


merciless

by erros429



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Boxer AU, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, No Lesbians Die, No beta we die like gays, Past Abuse, Physical Abuse, but i’ll put trigger warnings before each chapter, cursing, lots of fighting, mostly gonna be yang blake bonding time though, poly penny ruby and weiss woo, this is gonna get dark at some points, wikihow to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:13:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28940529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erros429/pseuds/erros429
Summary: ON A MINI-HIATUSBlake Belladonna’s ex-boyfriend is a well-known and undefeatable underground boxing champion at Beacon’s Boxing. When she finally manages to escape his manipulative nature, she stumbles straight into the arms of a tired and desperate boxer.Yang Xiao Long has never been one to follow just one path. She’s unmotivated, undriven, and unambitious, but when a short and angry brunette bursts into her life and insists that Yang train under her so that she may end the reign of some asshole named Adam Taurus, she can’t help but consider that there’s perhaps more in the world besides her and her sister.————————————“What makes you think I can’t beat Adam in a fight myself?”“You probably couldn’t even beat me in a fight right now, and I’m not at his level. But I’ve… let’s just say I’ve known him for a long ass time. So I know everything about the way he fights. His tells, his signature moves and how to avoid them. I know everything there is to know to beat him.”
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Neptune Vasilias/Sun Wukong, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 41
Kudos: 48





	1. Chapter 1

**Yang**

The cold water from the shower sprayed sharply against Yang’s back, dampening her long blonde locks of hair and relieving the tension in her muscles. She shut her eyes, fist coiling in fury as she recounted her match against Mercury. She’d won, but she had more bruises to show for it than she would have liked.

_The tall gray-haired man swung punch after punch at her, barely giving her a moment to breathe, to think. His leg shot out at her, slamming hard into her hip. She winced, but reacted quickly, shaking the pain off as she grabbed his leg before he could retract it. Yang squared her stance, holding herself down before pulling him forward. Mercury’s leg collapsed under him and he slipped backwards, using his arms to brace himself for the fall._

_Yang hardly spared him a second before jamming the heel of her foot onto his chest, shoving him down with a mountain of force. As he attempted to sit back up, she wound her leg back and smashed it mercilessly against his jaw, knocking him unconscious._

_She was faintly aware of the ring announcer thrusting her arm up, screaming, “AAAAAND THE WINNER IS THE DRAGON!” Screams filled the air, and someone tried to usher her off the ring, but her feet remained planted on the ground. All she could do was stare down as Mercury lay at her feet, unmoving._

He wasn’t dead, she knew that much. Yang might have kicked him out of consciousness, but she sure as hell didn’t kick the life out of him. But she didn’t enjoy the sight of it. This was her last match; it had to be.

Sure, Beacon’s Boxing brought in big money, but every day she participated in another match was another day she endangered herself and her little sister, Ruby. She did what she could to rake up the money for rent, but now she had to think seriously about a more reliable source of income besides her crappy part-time job and her even shittier, highly illegal night job.

Perhaps she could become a personal trainer. She certainly had a skill for fighting... though not so much at teaching.

Or maybe she could follow under her dad’s footsteps and become a mechanic. No, that brought too many painful memories of their times laughing in his garage, wearing tank-tops with their arms covered with grease to the elbow.

Her phone buzzed from her bag, and she sighed, turning the shower off and accepting the call after seeing Ruby’s name light up on the screen. She put it on speaker and pulled a towel around her body.

”Hey Rubes,” she greeted. “You couldn’t wait five minutes for me to get ready?”

”I watched the match, but I had to go right after. You did great, Yang! And, um...” Her voice trailed off. “Well, I should probably warn you...”

”Ruby, what’d you do?” she asked, already rubbing her temples.

”Nothing! I just, I have this friend in my class, her name’s Blake. I might have off-handedly mentioned your match to her, and she might have showed up, and I might have told her where to meet you-“

”Ruby!” Yang all but yelled as she dried her hair with her towel. “What did I say about meeting with random people after my matches?”

”I know, I know,” Ruby responded. “I swear, you’ll want to hear what she has to say. I think she’s just about as allergic to love as you are.”

”I’m not allergic, I’m selective,” the blonde said defensively.

”Well if you’re selective, she’s even more so. I know you said you wanted this to be your last match, but just hear her out.”

”No, Ruby. We aren’t taking help from anyone. Now tell this Blake girl to-“ Yang was cut off by a firm knock on her door. “Wait, someone’s at the door. If it’s Blake, I swear Ruby, I am kicking you out.”

”The landlord is kicking us out anyway! You need to hear her proposal, she’s-she’s willing to do anything if you help her. Maybe we can get a place to stay, or-“

“Ruby,” Yang interrupted her sister sharper than she intended, immediately wincing at her own tone. “Ruby,” she repeated, gentler this time. “We can have this conversation when I get back. We’ll figure something out. How much did you make by betting off me?”

”Enough to pay off the rest of our overdue rent. But seriously Yang, we need to get a more secure place! If you really don’t wanna work with Blake, I can get a job!”

”What have we discussed already? You need to focus completely on school, you let me handle all the financial stuff. Your scholarship is gonna save both our asses because you’ll get a sick ass job. I just need to hold the fort ‘til then.”

”Yang, you have to stop taking care of me, and realize I can handle myself! We need to take care of each other, that’s what sisters do.”

Yang was quiet for a few more moments before hearing the knock again. She sighed deeply, chucking some loose clothes on and walking towards her phone. “We’ll talk more later. See you, Rubes. Love you.”

”Just consider. Bye, Yang. I love you too.”

After the third knock arose, this time more insistent, the blonde boxer huffed, already disliking this Blake character. She yanked the door open, and immediately looked down to see a petite brunette with a fiery amber gaze.

Yang was floored. This girl was... _hot._ Like, unimaginably so. Like, she fell right out of a magazine, arms crossed and chin high (partly because she was shorter than Yang, but mostly because she had an air of unwavering determination radiating off of her). Something told Yang that this girl wasn’t going to leave until she said yes to whatever proposition she had in mind. Something told Yang she wasn’t sure she’d be able to say no even if she wanted to.

***  
**Blake**

As the blonde opened her mouth to greet her, Blake quickly spoke. “Dragon?”

“Yang. Dragon’s not- It’s not my actual name of course. You can just call me Yang.”

Blake ignored the way her skin pricked at the sound of Yang’s clear voice. “Yang,” she echoed, testing out how it sounded from her lips. “Okay Yang, I need you. May I come in?”

The brunette didn’t wait for the boxer’s go-ahead. She slid past her, her hand accidentally making contact with Yang’s arm, and a shiver immediately ran down her spine. The faintest touch was sending her body haywire in ways that she wasn’t sure she disliked. She brushed the thought off before taking a seat on the sweaty bench, undisturbed by it. She’d been in locker rooms after Adam’s fights before, so this was nothing new to her.

“Look lady, I’m pretty tired after that fight so if you wanted to hook up-“ Yang started, and Blake shook her head vehemently, shocked that this was the first place Yang’s mind decided to go to. Then again, she probably shouldn’t be surprised. The blonde was gorgeous, her body toned, and after seeing the way she fought so efficiently... even Blake had to admit she had some butterflies in her stomach. Yang was probably used to girls flocking after her and trying to hook up.

“What? No, no I have a-“ _I_ _have a boyfriend,_ she was about to say. But she didn’t. Not anymore. “I have a proposition for you.”

“If this is some weird intro to a fake dating thing where we end up liking each other by the end of it or whatever, I’ll let you know right now if you pay me, I’m totally down to fake kiss you in front of some relatives or whatever. But I’m not interested in falling in love-“

“Oh my _god,_ you are infuriating. I need you to beat my ex-boyfriend in the upcoming tournament.”

The cocky grin that had appeared on Yang’s face vanished as easily as it had appeared. Blake shuffled nervously, uncrossing her legs and then recrossing them.

“His name is Adam Taurus,” she continued.

Her face paled. Anyone who’s anyone could recognize Adam’s name. “You dated that fuckface?” So Yang had seen one of his fights before. Nobody made a comment about his face if they hadn’t met him before. That wasn’t good. People who’d seen him fight before were usually too intimidated to want to go against him, which made perfect sense to Blake. All she could hope for was that Yang was more stupid than she was cowardly.

“I need you to take him down. I take it you’ve seen him fight before?”

”Uh, no. Why would you assume that?”

Blake’s neck swung upwards so fast she thought she got whiplash for a moment. “Why would you call him fuckface then?”

”Because everyone tells me he’s a douche! Especially to his girlfri- You’re the girlfriend.” She stated it as more of realization than as a question. Blake chewed the inside of her cheek hard and nodded. “I-I’m sorry about that. But no, I’ve never met him. But if he really does have something on his face, I wouldn’t call him names over that. I’d call him names if his personality sucked though.”

”Well, he does have a pretty big scar over his eye, but if he caught somebody calling him fuckface, they’d probably end up having a more fucked up face than him. Essentially, he’s a colossal dick.”

“Cool. Fuckface it is. Anyways, why do you want me to beat him so bad? Can’t you hire somebody, like, way better than me? I only made it to the semifinals last year in the tournament when I lost against Emerald.”

”Emerald’s a shithead for one thing. Not as bad as Adam, but still annoying.”

”And I’m not annoying?”

”You’re not a dick,” Blake corrected cheekily, and she couldn’t help but note that Adam would’ve scrunched up in anger for her sass. Yang just threw her an easy lopsided grin.

”Wow, the bar’s so low. I’ll be sure not to hit my head on it.”

”You could break your back limboing under it,” Blake said, and Yang snorted. The blonde tapped her fingers rhythmically against the wall she was leaning back on. “Anyway, you can beat him. I know you can because I’ll train you.”

Yang’s fingers stopped, and she raised an eyebrow. Blake didn’t miss the way that the taller girl was scrutinizing her, and she prepared herself to being underestimated once again.

”I’m sure you’re fine at fighting, but so am I,” Yang finally said, catching the brunette by surprise. “What makes you think I can’t beat Adam in a fight myself?” Yang seemed to be full of surprises today, many of them pleasant.

“You probably couldn’t even beat me in a fight right now, and I’m not at his level. But I’ve… let’s just say I’ve known him for a long ass time. So I know everything about the way he fights. His tells, his signature moves and how to avoid them. I know everything there is to know to beat him.”

The blonde was silent for a few more moments, considering what Blake had to say. From her first impression of Yang, she thought she’d just come up to the biggest meathead for the job and was beginning to regret her decision to knock on this girl’s door in the first place. But something kept her there. Something made her want to learn more about this girl. These two had just met, there was no way that she was going to allow their first interaction to be their only one.

”That’s all well and good,” Yang finally said, licking her lips. “But today was my last match. I’m done fighting, I need to settle for a good job and support my sister. I can’t dedicate my time to something like this when I already have so much on my plate.”

”How much do you need?” Blake asked, barely registering the words coming out of her own mouth.

”Uh... what?”

”I mean, like, what do you need? There has to be something I can do for you in return.”

”No.” Blake was taken aback by how dark Yang’s face had gotten when she said that. “I’m not taking any favors from anyone.”

”This isn’t a favor though!” Blake all but insisted. “Consider it more of an exchange. You’re helping me with this. I can’t beat Adam myself because when I face him, I-I...” _Why am I even telling you this?_ Why was she about to spill her guts out to this complete stranger? “I can’t face him myself, but he needs to be beat. For myself and for the trail of bloody noses and bruised women he leaves in his wake.” She jut her chin forward and looked Yang square in the eyes. “I’ll give you anything I can. And I will train you until you’re better than he could ever even dream to be. Just one more tournament and you never have to see me again.”

Yang rubbed the back of her neck, her jaw visibly clenching and unclenching. Blake tore her gaze away from the movement, knowing that’s probably where she shouldn’t be focusing. “Shit,” Yang muttered, barely audible. “You should be in marketing or something. You said anything, right? You’re as desperate as me?”

Blake hesitated just for a moment. “I wouldn’t say I’m _desperate._ ” At Yang’s disbelieving look, her shoulders sagged. “Okay, I’m pretty desperate, but um, depends on what you’re desperate for.”

”A place to stay. N-Not your place, I mean, but my sister and I live together and I need to take care of her. If I’m gonna be dedicating myself to this fighting stuff, I need something secure. So if you know somebody who charges cheap rent...” The blonde trailed off with a shrug, expecting Blake to figure out the rest of her statement.

”That’s it?” Blake breathed out in astonishment, bewildering both Yang and herself when she laughed. “You just wanted me to point you in a good direction?”

”I’m not good at this ‘asking for help’ shit, okay?” Yang was pouting now, her arms crossing over her chest. Blake couldn’t help but think she looked adorable when she did that.

”My two roommates, Nora and Ren, just moved out. Probably for more privacy because, I mean, I’m sure they don’t want to be overheard and I certainly didn’t want to overhear them...” she paused, realizing she was getting off track. “Anyway, I have two rooms available, and I can even let you stay with no charge.”

Yang’s eyes widened at even the thought of a free place to live. ”I’m not gonna let you pay all three of our rents! The apartment is good enough, at least let me pay a little.”

”No, no, you misunderstand. My parents, uh,” she scratched the back of her head. “Well they kind of own the apartment complex, and they don’t charge me much.”

Despite what Blake had just revealed to her, Yang’s face was filled with unmoving drive. “How much?”

”I don’t pay anything!”

”Well, I will!” Yang shot back. “What do you want? Besides revenge against A-dumb Taurus.”

”Fine, just, give me... like ten percent of your earnings for every fight you win.”

”Ten? That’s it?”

”Jeez, Yang, didn’t you ask me for somebody with cheap rent? Ten percent is more than enough for me, especially if you win the whole tournament. Everyone’s gonna bet for Adam, and when you win, you and I will be rolling in it. Trust me.”

”Rolling in it?” Yang’s face slowly brightened, and Blake swore she was staring directly into the sun. “I’ll give you fifteen percent of my earnings.”

Blake rolled her eyes. “Okay, whatever. So we have a deal? You fight Adam for me, with my training of course, and I give you a place to stay?”

”For the time being, yeah. I’ll move out when the tournament is done and I’ve beat Adam. Because then my side of the deal’s been finished, right?”

”Right, right. So we have a deal?”

Yang stepped forward. Blake’s hand was buzzing as Yang shook it, but she decided to pass it off as excitement. “Yeah. We have a deal.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Yang**

“Penny, I honestly can’t thank you enough for helping me and Ruby with the boxes,” Yang said with a huge smile, one that the cheery redhead mirrored.

”Of course! I’m happy to help you guys in any way. Plus, I’m really excited to see Ruby’s room,” she responded easily, and Yang couldn’t even snort at what that implied because she knew Penny didn’t have any ulterior motive. She was as innocent as a twenty year old could get.

”I wish Weiss was here,” Ruby whined for the millionth time that day. “I love you Penny, with every fiber of my being, but I want you _both_ here. This is such an exciting day for us!”

”Yeah, I get it,” Penny assured. She pressed a gentle kiss against Ruby’s forehead. “We’ll just have to make the most of what we have!”

“Pfft, guys, please,” Yang started with a chuckle. “We all know Weiss would just yell at us all like a denmother instead of helping with the heavy-lifting.”

Ruby hid her snicker well, but Yang had known her for too long to know that her cough was just a mask for her amusement. “Don’t be mean, Yang. Especially when the poor girl isn’t here to defend herself.”

”She’d probably just yell, ‘Hey!’ all angrily, and that’d be it.” Yang rolled her eyes, and Penny cracked a small grin.

As they finished loading all their boxes into Penny’s trunk and backseat, Ruby sat in the passenger’s seat while Penny took the wheel. Yang swung her leg over her motorcycle and stretched her arms, hearing a tiny _pop_ from her elbows. She secured her helmet on after wearing her sunglasses, then threw an enthusiastic thumbs up to the other two girls before leading the way to their new apartment.

Blake had already showed her around the place, telling Yang that she and Ruby could decide for themselves which rooms they wanted, though they were both fairly similar. Yang figured that Ruby would want the bigger room considering she’d have more guests to bring, so she was happy to let go of the space for her. Blake seemed surprised by that, though Yang didn’t really understand why; all she needed was a place to sleep and eat and then most of her time was spent training or working.

As they pulled up near the new apartment complex and began to carry the boxes in, Blake greeted them at the front door. “Here, let me help you with that,” she said with a soft smile to Ruby, who was struggling slightly under its weight.

The younger girl huffed but let Blake carry it for her, and she turned to get the next box. “Jeez, it’s hot as shit out here,” Ruby complained. 

“Hey, language,” Yang reprimanded. “And yeah, I’m sweating a fuckton out here.”

”I’m twenty! I can curse as much as I want!”

”Not around me, you can’t,” Yang teased, sticking her tongue out. Ruby, equally as immature, mimicked her. “Hey, who changed your diapers? It was me! I’m basically your mom, you can’t argue with me.”

”You’re two years older than me! You would have been in diapers the same time as me,” Ruby argued, but she was laughing along with Yang.

They continued to bicker as they set their boxes down inside the apartment. “We don’t have a whole lot of stuff,” Yang began explaining to Blake, “so I’m just gonna go out and get the rest of the boxes. Ruby, Penny, get situated in the bigger vacant room, that one’s yours.”

“We have two different rooms this time?” Ruby was bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly. “I can finally talk to my girlfriends without your snide comments in the background?”

”Yes yes, you get your privacy,” the blonde said with a wave of her hand. She pulled her sweat-ridden hoodie off, revealing just a tanktop, and tied her hair up. “Fucking hell, why is it so hot today?”

”Yeah, really hot,” Blake spluttered out, her eyes pointedly looking away.

Yang smirked, but didn’t say anything further. She figured this wasn’t a battle she wanted to pick right now. She walked back outside to grab the final box and bag before closing the trunk and making her way back into the apartment. The door for their specific room was already open, so Yang closed it behind her with her foot and set her things down.

She wiped her sweat from her brow and rolled her shoulders. Her eyes raked over the large area that she’d already been looking at before. Blake approached her sheepishly and offered the blonde a towel. Yang took it with a grateful smile.

”So if your parents own this place, why’d you ask for a three-bedroom apartment? Why not just get your own space in, like, a penthouse or something?” she finally broke the silence, though she realized that probably wasn’t a good question to ask from how Blake froze up. “Sorry, sorry! Already going into the thought-provoking questions without asking the basic ones first,” Yang was grasping at straws now. “Uh, what’s your favorite color?”

Blake puffed out a short laugh, which really just sounded like a breathy, _ha._ “No, that question was fine. I used to live with Adam, and then I broke things off with him after the last tournament. That was a year ago. I didn’t have anywhere to go, and I hopped between motels for a little bit, but my parents found out about that pretty quickly. They tried to offer me one of the better apartments, but I told them that a place to stay was enough for me. So they told me that Ren and Nora were looking for a third person to split the rent with, and who better than the daughter of their landlord?”

”That’s really nice of your parents,” Yang said softly, and Blake nodded firmly. “Look, when all this is over and I can get a solid job and Rubes is out of college-“

”You don’t need to think about that right now. We have work to do with this tournament, and you can stay as long as you need. I don’t want my pupil getting distracted,” she added on with a grin.

”Your pupil? I don’t like the sound of that.” Yang frowned, but Blake just responded with a wider grin. “Hey you never answered my last question. What’s your favorite color?”

Her laugh (or scoff?) was a little louder than last time. “Purple. You?”

”Yellow.”

”Fits with your...” Blake trailed off and gestured to all of Yang, “sunshiny energy, I guess.”

She snorted. “Sunshiny was the best word you could’ve come up with?”

”It’s not like yellow is a badass color.”

Yang gasped dramatically. “Yellow is such a badass color! I have no idea what you’re talking about. Purple is a pretentious color.”

“Purple is a good color, stop antagonizing my favorite just because yours is for children.”

”Yellow is the coolest fucking color, I don’t wanna hear it.”

Blake didn’t get the chance to respond when there was a knock on the door. “Oh, that’s probably my parents. They wanted to meet you.”

”We haven’t even been dating for a day and you already want me to meet the parents?” Yang teased, to which the shorter girl shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Blake!” A huge man greeted, swooping her into his arms. “When I heard you were going to let some friends stay at the apartment, I just had to meet them. The only people you ever talked to were Ren and Nora and when they left, you completely-“

”Dad,” Blake cut off, peeling herself away from his huge arms. “This is Yang. She and her little sister, Ruby, are going to be staying in the two empty rooms.”

”It’s nice to finally meet you,” Yang started politely, shaking Blake’s mom’s hand first and then her dad’s. He was _huge._ She tried not to be intimidated by the size of his hand, and was eager to shake it just as firmly as he was shaking hers. “I can’t begin to express how grateful I am that you’re letting me stay here, Mr. Belladonna.”

He grinned broadly, letting go of her to scratch his beard. “I like her much more than that Sun fellow,” he said to his daughter, who flushed at his words. “And please, Yang, call me Ghira. This is my wife Kali. We’re very happy to see you spending time with Blake.”

”Yes, lord knows she needs to get out of her head and into the real world,” Kali said, and Blake groaned.

“Okay, okay, greetings are done. Is there anything else you needed?”

Before they had the chance to say anything else, Ruby and Penny emerged from Ruby’s new room. “Ohmygosh you must be Blake’s parents!” she rushed out, stepping closer to shake their hands. “I’m so thankful, really, we’re so thankful you’re letting us stay here. You’re such kind people, I know a lot of people wouldn’t do something like this for just two strangers so really, this is so great. You guys are great and so kind and I’m so grateful. We’re gonna treat Blake with the utmost respect and care and you won’t regret opening your home for us, we’ll be the greatest clients you’ve ever had thank yousomuchthisissowonderfulofyou-“

”Rubes, catch your breath,” Yang finally interrupted, prying her away from the two bewildered parents. “I’m sorry about her, but she really is very thankful for this. We both are.”

Kali laughed. “You’ll keep my Blake busy, so that’s all I could ask for. Say, Ruby?” The younger girl perked up at the sound of her name. “You’re in Blake’s class, right?”

”Yes ma’am! Physics. Blake is so very smart, smarter than me, for sure. She’s always willing to help me with my work-“

”Ruby,” the blonde said with a sigh, successfully shutting her up.

”Why do you ask?” Ruby questioned, turning to Blake’s mom.

“Just, thank you for keeping her company,” Kali responded with a smile.

***  
 **Blake**

The next morning, Blake was determined to get started on Yang’s training immediately. They were still a few months away from the start of the tournament, and Blake knew that Yang already had a solid fighting style, but it would take time to refine it completely for Adam.

However, when she peaked into Yang’s room to see if she was ready to hit the gym, it was empty save for a messy mattress, some stray boxes, and scattered clothes leaking out of a deep yellow suitcase. Yang was just about as messy as Blake figured her to be. She didn’t expect her to be an early riser though.

Blake knocked on Ruby’s door, only to find it creak open under the light force of her knuckle. She heard gentle snoring and shuffling, so she figured that she shouldn’t enter just yet.

It was only a few moments later when Blake noticed the smell of eggs from the kitchen. A note was laying on the kitchen counter right next to a plate full of omelettes and bacon. In messy, doctor-like handwriting, the words, _out for a run, be back at 9 :)_ were written on a tiny piece of paper. 

The brunette could barely fight the smile that blossomed her face, but she forced it down when Ruby emerged from her room, a low yawn escaping her throat. Blake took a quick glance at the clock to see that there were only fifteen minutes until nine. 

“Good morning, Ruby. Hope you slept well.”

”Mornin’ Blake!” The short girl chirped. “Did Yang make breakfast before leaving?”

So Ruby was used to this. That didn’t come as a surprise to Blake. “Yeah,” she responded. “She left a note saying she’ll be back by nine.”

Ruby pouted. “She never left notes for me.”

”I’m guessing that’s because you two should already have this kind of cycle. She’s probably letting me know because I wouldn’t be used to her just being gone in the morning.”

“Oh yeah, I guess that’s true. I’m not used to seeing Yang really interact with anyone besides me, and it’s not that...” Ruby trailed off. “It’s not that she doesn’t like people, she just prefers to keep certain people closer to her.”

”Believe me, I get it,” Blake said with an understanding nod. “So, wouldn’t want this food to go bad, would we?” Ruby shook her head vehemently, seemingly disgusted at even the thought of that. “This kind of seems like a lot of food for just two people, doesn’t it?”

”Not for me! I have a crazy metabolism. Yang usually makes more for me and her, but since it’s me and you, I think she figured you wouldn’t inhale your bacon like us heathens.”

”...Right,” the taller girl coughed. “Well, uh.” She searched her mind for a good conversation topic as the two brunettes sat down to eat. “How are classes going?”

”Great! Yang’s a huge help. She’s so smart, it sucks she’s not enrolled, I know she’d do great. Anyway I have class at noon, but I was wondering if it’d be cool to invite Weiss and Penny over afterwards?”

Blake chuckled. “You don’t have to ask, it’s your apartment too. Besides, Yang and I’ll be out all day training, so you can do whatever you want.” She didn’t ask Ruby why Yang wasn’t enrolled, though the question began to burn in her mind. There was a lot she didn’t know about the blonde, and although there was a lot that the blonde didn’t know about _her,_ something made her want to share every little thing about herself.

As the two shoveled food into their mouths and conversed casually, time quickly ticked by, and before they knew it, Yang was back with five shopping bags and a sweaty t-shirt sticking to her every curve. Blake had half a mind to look away, her face suddenly burning at the sight.

”Sorry I’m late! When I was cooking breakfast, I noticed you guys were short on a lot of stuff, so I decided we should probably stock up. I didn’t really think too far ahead though ‘cause carrying groceries with a motorcycle wasn’t my smartest move.”

”Mornin’ Yang!” Ruby greeted just as cheerily as she’d greeted Blake earlier. “The omelettes were so good, thank you!”

”Yeah, really, you didn’t have to do all this,” Blake added in.

”I live here now, I gotta start pulling my weight. Rubes, do you need a ride to class? The campus is a little farther from here than our old apartment.”

Ruby hesitated, chewing on her lower lip in thought. “I don’t wanna have to get a ride from you all the time, but I’m not sure how the bus routes work in this area just yet.”

”I’ll give you a ride today and then you can figure that all out later, yeah? What time’s your first class?”

”I only have one class today, it’s at twelve.”

”Okay, cool. I’m gonna eat and shower first, we have tons of time. Can you get a ride back with Weiss or Penny?”

”Yeah, I was gonna hang out with them while you and Blake train.”

”Huh?” Yang seemed thrown off at that, and Blake realized she hadn’t even filled her in on her scheduling plan.

”Yang,” Blake cut in. “After you drop off Ruby, we’re gonna jump right into training.”

Yang knit her brows together. “Right away? I mean, the tournament is months from now.”

”Every bit of practice helps. You need to beat Adam, so the sooner you start adjusting to his weaknesses the better.” 

Yang sighed. “Alright teach, what’s the plan?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter was a teensy bit slow and there weren’t that many interactions between the bees but it’s all setup for the next chapter :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Yang**

When Blake introduced Yang to Jaune and Pyrrha at the gym that she worked at, she didn’t realize she’d be getting her ass kicked by a terrifyingly tall (and admittedly hot) redhead with kind eyes and an even kinder smile.

But there she was, knocked on her butt, staring up at Pyrrha who was offering a hand to help her up. Jaune was watching with a knowing smile, and Yang didn’t even _want_ to see the expression on Blake’s face. She chanced a glance over anyway, for some reason unable to keep her eyes off of the brunette. Where she expected disappointment, she found a spark of interest, an analytical glint in the amber of her eyes as she watched them. 

Yang felt a sudden surge in her chest, unsure of what exactly the emotion was, but what she did know was that her heart was stuttering and she was somehow even more focused on the brawl at hand. She sidestepped a punch from the tall redhead, and grabbed her wrist. Pyrrha’s green eyes widened, obviously never having been one-upped in this way, and she stumbled as Yang twisted her arm and tugged her forward, winding her other arm back to smash her elbow against her cheek.

”Pyrrha!” Jaune called, but she held up a hand to signal she was alright.

”Sorry,” Yang said with a wince. Her arm was tingling at the mere contact it had made with her face. “I didn’t hit you too hard, did I?”

She shrugged with an easy smile. “It might bruise later, but that’s to be expected when you’re a boxer.”

The blonde chuckled, rubbing her hand on the back of her neck. “Right. Still, sorry. I was a bit swept up in the moment.”

”Okay,” Blake cut in. “I’ve seen enough. Thanks for your help, Pyrrha. Yang, get over here.”

Pyrrha stepped out of the ring and was immediately met with Jaune who was inspecting her face with a sort of gentleness that left Yang with a fluttery feeling in her stomach. The amount that he seemed to care about her was unbelievable to her, and Yang couldn’t imagine worrying about anyone to that extent besides her little sister.

She ducked under the ropes of the ring and approached Blake, gratefully accepting the water bottle that she offered her. She’d been exercising, then sparring with Pyrrha for only forty minutes, but she’d completely worked up a sweat in that time. She splashed some of the water from the bottle onto her face, instantly cooling down from the sensation.

Yang looked down to see a pink hue growing on the shorter girl’s face, but she opted to ignore it. ”Thanks. So what’cha got for me, Teach?”

Blake raised an eyebrow at the nickname. “You get too angry during your fights. I noticed that with Mercury too. It muddles your fighting style, but I noticed that once you screw your head on straight, you actually start fighting smarter and then you come through in the end.”

”Can’t screw my head on straight if I’m not,” Yang responded easily, throwing her a grin to which she received an eyeroll.

”That’s completely impractical. My head is perfectly straight even though I’m not,” Blake countered, not letting Yang get another word in. A thrill traveled down her spine from the bite in Blake’s words. “I also noticed that when you get angry, your right arm shakes a bit. I couldn’t tell in your fight with Mercury, but it was a lot more obvious this time around. If you have some sort of injury, I need to know how old and how serious so we can work around it. It’s a very obvious tell.”

Yang swallowed dryly at the mention of her arm, and she glanced down to see her fingers trembling again. She grabbed her hand protectively, clenching her jaw and looking down at Blake defiantly. “It was an accident from four years ago. It won’t be a problem.”

The brunette didn’t seem convinced, but she harbored a sympathetic look on her face. “If you don’t feel like you can do this-“

”I can do it,” the blonde cut in sharply. “I don’t need any pity from you.”

”It’s not pity, it’s an out.”

”We have a deal. I’m not one to back out of my deals.”

”Okay.” Blake nodded. “Then let’s talk about your technique. Adam’s faster and stronger than you.”

“Thanks.”

”He’s a better attacker and a better defender than you too.”

”You sure you want me? ‘Cause all this shit-talking from you is-“

”Shut up. He’s not better in technique though. His strongest weapon is the way he can get into his opponents’ heads and make them feel like shit. So you need to be able to ignore any type of manipulative trash talk he’ll spew at you.”

”Got it. Mental strength over physical strength. I can do that.” Yang wasn’t sure if she could stand her ground if he dug something out from her past, though. If he knew the right words to say to remind her of everything she was trying to avoid, then she’d be rendered useless.

”He’s good at defending himself, but if you can get past his defense, he’s very weak. He also has, like, no stamina whatsoever. He relies on finishing his enemies off quickly before he tires himself out. That’s where your technique comes in.”

”I can take a hit,” Yang said, nodding in understanding. She knew exactly where Blake was going with this, and when she hummed an affirmative, Yang continued, “So I play the long game. Let him punch me till he’s worn out, and then knock him out.”

“You got it. Just make sure you keep your cool and wait for the right moment. Think you can keep your anger in check?”

”You mean my Yang-er?” The blonde joked, to which she received a scoff. She shrugged, not expecting the pun to make Blake laugh anyway. “Yeah, I think I can stop myself from throwing a hissy fit in the middle of a match, don’t worry.”

”Alright. Get back in the ring.”

Yang paused. ”Didn’t Pyrrha leave? Who am I going to be sparring?”

”Me. He’s taught me everything he knows, so you’ll basically be fighting a mimicry of him. Now imagine I’m Adam,” Blake said as they both climbed into the ring.

”Um, not really sure what to imagine.”

”A jackass.”

”Okay, yeah, you’re a jackass. But hotter.” She hesitated. “Yeah, sorry Teach, but I don’t think I can punch you.”

“Yang,” Blake sighed out. “Just punch me. I’m Adam but with killer boobs.”

The taller girl snorted. “Ms. Belladonna, did you just make a joke?”

Blake didn’t respond. She just crouched into a fighting stance and swept her leg out, successfully hooking her ankle behind Yang’s knee and making her stumble forward. The blonde righted herself on instinct, irritation pricking through her skin as she whipped around to face Blake, barely bringing her arms up to defend her face as her fist came flying towards her.

Blake shot another fist towards her, and she blocked it easily, their wrists making contact and sending a jolt down Yang’s body. Her eyes widened as Blake suddenly pushed Yang down, hooking her legs around her thighs and using her full weight to pin her. Her hands gripped Yang’s wrists and she breathed heavily at the effort.

”I wasn’t joking,” Blake finally replied, her breath escaping in short bursts. “I do have killer boobs.”

Yang laughed, both at the position they were in, and at the brunette’s words. “Holy shit, you’re faster than I expected. But if you wanted me beneath you, all you had to do was ask.”

”I-I don’t want you beneath me!” Blake spluttered out, scrambling off of her with her face red.

”Then you want me on top of you?” Yang suggested, her amused grin growing as Blake’s face grew impossibly darker. “Okay, okay, sorry, I’m done. If this is how Adam fights, I gotta say,” she breathed out. “I’ve got a long way to go.”

”Yup,” Blake agreed. “Now, you punch me first.”

***

**Blake**

They practiced for two more hours, though most of the time in between was taken up by Yang making an idiotic remark, Blake telling her off, and then the blonde laughing boisterously. The shorter girl found herself smiling fondly whenever Yang would throw her a particularly huge grin, but Blake would wipe the look off quickly.

”Okay, we’re done training for the evening,” Blake finally said, grabbing her phone out of her bag to check the time. “Hurry, we have somewhere to be.”

”We do?”

Blake almost slapped herself for forgetting to tell Yang. “I want you to watch Adam fight. I’m a good copy of him, but I’m not as big or fast or strong, so you need to see for yourself just how skilled of a fighter he is.”

Yang quirked an eyebrow. “You sure you’re okay with that? I mean, seeing him will probably bring up, you know, like bad memories, no?”

Blake feared this too, but she hadn’t been prepared for somebody to vocalize it to her. “I’ll be okay,” she insisted, though her voice was hollow from any meaning.

”Blake,” Yang started, “don’t do something you’re not ready for. It’s alright to put your needs first, especially in a situation like this.”

Blake sat at the edge of the ring, and Yang joined her carefully. “I’m not gonna let him control me anymore,” Blake announced, more to herself than to the blonde. “He’s always been able to make me do things he wanted me to do, so this time, I’m not gonna give him the satisfaction. I’ll come to his match, and I’ll prove that I’m stronger than his control over me.”

Yang was rendered silent by her words, and she flexed the fingers of her right arm before very gingerly placing her hand on top of Blake’s. A sharp sensation ran up her arm at the touch, and she inhaled quickly, her eyes meeting Yang’s. She almost reeled back at the intensity of her purple gaze, the obvious pride etched all over.

”That’s really admirable of you. I wish...” she trailed off. Blake turned her hand over so she was holding Yang’s hand back. After receiving a reassuring squeeze from Blake, the taller girl continued, “I wish I was strong enough to face my past with that amount of resolve. You’re more incredible than you realize, you know that?”

Yang wasn’t flirting. She wasn’t shamelessly complimenting her just to get a flustered reaction out of her. From her tone to the way her eyes flickered down to their joined hands then back up at the brunette, Blake realized that she meant every word that she was saying.

Blake opened her mouth to say something, anything, but her throat was dry and her emotions began to run raw. “Thank you, Yang,” she managed. “That means more than you know.”

”Yup! This was my master plan to get you to like me more,” she added with an exaggerated wink.

Blake scoffed, but her lips pushed up from the sides and soon enough she was beaming at Yang. The blonde got up, still not letting go of their joined hands, but holding it looser now, as if she was giving Blake the choice to let go.

She did let go, but only to grab her gym bag and keys. “Well, Dragon? You coming to see Adam be an asshole?”

“Ugh, ask me to dinner first before offering me such a suggestive activity,” Yang countered snootily.

”What, so you can throw it all up later?”

”I’ll aim it at Adam, don’t worry.”

”Wow, my teachings really are catching on.”

***

Adam was better than Blake remembered him to be. He was more precise in his attacks, more calculating, more watchful. He also seemed more driven, more angry. The scar over his eye was on full display, almost as though he was wearing it with pride.

Blake watched as he grabbed his opponent by his ears and smashed his face against his knee, successfully knocking him out in one final blow. She remembered that this display of power was precisely what had attracted her to him in the first place. If only she’d realized that power wasn’t the same thing as strength. She chanced a look at Yang’s expression.

The blonde paled at the sight of his fight, her eyes wide and her lips parted in shock. “Shit,” she finally breathed out. “He’s good.”

”You’re better.”

”Did you see him beat that guy’s ass in less than a minute flat? I’m nowhere near his level.”

”I mean, you’re better in literally every aspect. You’re not an asshole, you actually have a sense of humor, all that good stuff. You can be better than him at fighting. Trust me, you can win this.”

”Right,” Yang shakily said. “I can- I can do this. He’s just-“ She stopped abruptly, her eyes widening further and her jaw now falling open. Blake followed her gaze to find a familiar dark-haired woman congratulating Adam for his fight. “I can’t-“

“Yang.” Blake took her hands, trying to turn her gaze away from the woman. “Hey, Yang, you can do this. Adam still has some major faults. If you just hone in on those-“ She halted when the blonde pulled her hands away swiftly.

”No, no, I need to get out of here,” Yang rushed out, panic lacing her voice when the dark-haired woman’s deep red eyes made contact with her purple ones. Now both of Yang’s hands were shaking, and she was stepping — no, stumbling — away. “Raven.”

Blake raised her eyebrows at that. ”You know Adam’s trainer?”

”Raven’s been training him? For how long?”

“Three years, maybe? Why? How do you know her?”

”We have to _go,_ Blake.” Yang’s voice was shaking. “She’s coming this way.”

But by the time they were hurrying to the exit, Raven intercepted them with a chilling smile. “Yang,” she greeted. “How are you?”

”Raven,” the blonde all but growled out. Blake noted how Yang seemed to step protectively in front of her, but she wasn’t sure if she was trying to block Raven’s view of Blake... or if she was trying to block Blake’s view of Raven. “I’m good, considering. Thanks so fucking much for that gift basket in the hospital. What, were you too busy to visit me?”

”Yang, you can’t possibly still be angry at me for something like that,” Raven attempted, but there was a sudden fire in Yang’s demeanor that wouldn’t be easily quelled.

”Don’t act like it’s something trivial! You abandoned me when I needed you the most. You never checked in, never tried to help. You think sending me money for a couple months of rent meant anything to me? I didn’t want your financial help, I wanted my mom to be there for me. But honestly, I should be thanking you. You would have ruined Ruby like you did to me. At least she never had to be influenced by you.”

Blake quickly pieced together that Raven was Yang’s mother who abandoned her after the accident that resulted in Yang’s shaky arm, but her mouth remained shut. This wasn’t at all her place to speak up.

Raven opened her mouth, but after a few moments of consideration and her gaze darting to the floor, she shut her mouth and shook her head. Yang crossed her arms and leaned her weight on one of her legs. “Well, Raven? If you have nothing to stay, at least move so I can go.”

”What are you doing here?” She finally asked, the coldness in her voice from earlier still lingering.

”Scoping out the competition. I’m going to beat your little protégée in the tournament. And I won’t let anything stop me. Not even you.”

With that, she pushed past her mother, checking her shoulder as she briskly walked. Blake shoved her hands in her pockets and numbly followed the tensed blonde.

As they sat in Blake’s car, she broke the silence. “You don’t have to talk about your mom if you don’t want to,” she started, hoping to assure Yang. “But we need to get something to eat. Are you alright?”

Yang finally looked at her, and Blake’s eyebrows shot up in bewilderment as Yang’s purple irises looked the same blood-red as Raven’s eyes. But when Yang blinked, sighing heavily, her eyes returned to normal.

”I could eat, yeah.”

Blake started the car and began to pull out of the driveway. ”Alright, then we can plan our future moves for the tournament. Adam’s not the only person you’ll have to beat.” She tapped her finger against the wheel as she stopped at a red light. “You still want to fight right?”

In the corner of her eye, she watched Yang clench her shaking hand into a fist. “It’s personal for me now, too. I’m gonna show Raven I don’t need her to get stronger. Same way you’ll show Adam you’re better off without him.”

Blake couldn’t fight off the smug smirk that began to grow on her face. The two were finally on the same page. After a short, silent drive, they pulled up at a small diner that Blake had eaten at a few times before. The tiles on the floor were a mix of white and red, and as they sat across from each other at a booth, they noted a strange stickiness on the table.

”I think I’ll bring some food back for Ruby, too,” Yang broke the silence. “What’s good here?”

”I don’t really come here for dinner much, just their milkshakes. Honestly all their dessert food is delicious,” Blake replied, her eyes faced down to read the menu. 

As the waiter took their orders, and the two reclined further back in their seats, they fell into an easy conversation.

“Adam’s improved since I left him,” Blake admitted. “But he still has his same tells. Stick to the scarred side of his face. It delays his reaction time just a cinch, but in the midst of a battle-“

”-Every second counts,” Yang finished for her, nodding. “We should probably figure out how I’m gonna beat Emerald. She’s scary smart in a fight.”

”Then you’ll have to be smarter.” Blake thumbed the hem of her shirt. “You’re skilled, but like I said before, you need to get your anger under control for everything to work.”

”I think we should watch one of Emerald’s fights too,” Yang added in, before looking up and thanking their waiter for bringing their food. She was just about to take a bite from her burger when her phone began to buzz from the tabletop.

Yang wiped her hands and picked it up. “Hey, Princess,” she greeted with a teasing grin, but it was quickly wiped off when the person on the other end was talking so quickly and so loudly that even Blake could hear some indistinct words from where she was sitting. “Woah, Weiss, slow down. What happened?”

Yang was quiet for almost an entire minute, her face stricken with concern. “What’s wrong?” Blake asked softly.

”Okay, okay, I’m on my way. Just try to talk to her, but don’t touch her if she doesn’t give you permission to. The slightest action might set her off. I’ll be right there, okay? Is Penny with her right now? Alright, good.” Yang got up, raising her hand at the waiter. “Can I take this to-go?” She more demanded it than asked it. “Okay, Weiss, I’m on my way.”

The blonde hung up, her jaw visibly working. Blake would’ve admired the sharpness of Yang’s jawline if she wasn’t panicking so much. “Hey, what happened?”

”We have to go back to the apartment. Something happened to Ruby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woooo another update!! did y’all watch the newest episode???? holy shitttt that was insaneeee and the amount of ladybug content is to DIE for thank you crwbyyyyy. i hope my girl penny’s gonna be ok, and i hope there’ll be some real frosen steel content in the show in the future!! excited to see where they’re gonna take it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw//mentions of emotional abuse, attachment issues, panic attacks, nightmares, family death
> 
> slightly early chapter since i won’t be able to post it over the weekend!! it’s also significantly longer than the others so far, i mayyyy have gotten a bit carried away lol. this chapter’s a bit all over the place bc im finally picking up the plot more. i also didn’t edit it much bc i’m in a rush, so you might see an error or two! thanks for reading, and i hope you enjoy!

**Ruby**

**6 Years Ago**

Ruby flinched as Yang’s bedroom door slammed behind her. “What happened?” she asked her mom, and Summer just shook her head.

”She’s just a little upset about some things regarding me and your father. I’ll check in on her once she’s cooled off,” she responded, tucking a strand of hair behind Ruby’s ear. “Now, get some rest. Don’t wanna miss your field trip tomorrow!”

The young brunette perked up at the reminder of her overnight school trip, and she nodded enthusiastically. “Oh man, it’s gonna be great! Penny and I are gonna room together and we’re gonna eat _so_ much mac and cheese!”

Summer kissed her on the forehead and smiled gently. “I love you sweetheart, have a good night.”

But when she woke up the next morning, her father was holding a weeping Summer and Yang had left a note. 

_I accepted Raven’s proposal. Thank you guys for everything._

_Love, Yang._

Ruby didn’t go on her field trip. She didn’t do a whole lot after that night.

**Yang**

**Present day**

Yang had to admit, she had been a bit prone to dramatics when she was a teenager. She was stupid and idealistic and the one thing she had wanted her entire life had presented itself on her lap. Any sixteen year old would take that opportunity, and Yang was no exception. If only she’d known how much it would break her real family. The ones that were there while she grew up instead of the one that only wanted Yang when she showed she was actually worth something.

Blake was tapping her fingers impatiently at the wheel, chancing glances at Yang every five seconds. “You okay?”

The blonde looked up, making eye contact with her briefly. “Yeah, I’m just pissed. Tonight’s been pretty shitty.”

”Yeah.” Blake blew air out from her parted lips. “Do you... need anything?”

”From you, darling? Sure you should be offering?” Yang instinctively slipped into flirting, almost as if it was the only thing that made sense to her anymore.

”Yang,” the brunette sighed out so softly that a chill ran down her spine.

”No. I don’t need anything. Thank you, but I just need to be there for Ruby. I owe her that much.”

”You owe her?” Blake asked, then clamped her mouth shut sharply. “Y-You don’t have to answer that, it isn’t any of my business.”

”No, it’s okay,” Yang said, waving it off and laughing. “I guess if I don’t get a therapist, I should at least talk about it with someone.” When Blake didn’t say anything, she continued, “When I was sixteen, I left. I left Ruby and our parents. Raven, uh, she’s my mom. Summer was Ruby’s mom, but she was more of a parent to me than Raven could ever even dream of being. But, um, Raven left me when I was born, and Summer basically filled in the role and she was fucking great at it. But I still felt like I needed to find Raven, demand answers from her, ask her why she left us. Why she left _me._ ”

When Yang stopped mid-story, her fingers trembling uncontrollably, Blake placed a gentle hand over hers. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”

”She came back,” the blonde blurted out. Yang honestly had no idea why she was telling her all this after only knowing her for a few days. “I was making headlines as, like, a high school boxing champion, and she found out, and she came back. Told me she regretted everyday she was away from me, and that she could train me. At first, I didn’t want her to. I hated her for leaving, and I hated her even more in that moment because she wouldn’t give me a reason for why. But then Summer told me that maybe I should hear out her request, and that Raven was my mother after all, and all that shit. And, I don’t know, I was just so angry that Raven didn’t even want _me._ She wanted my skills. And here Summer was trying to send me away to her. At least, that’s how I viewed it at the time. So I yelled, and then my dad yelled, so I yelled more. And we both said some pretty shitty things, and I left, and Ruby was just fourteen, a-and I _left_ her.”

Blake didn’t comment on the crack in Yang’s voice. She just brushed her thumb against her knuckles. “You were young. You can’t beat yourself up over something like that.”

”I took so much of Ruby’s childhood away from her in that moment. I only thought about myself, and then there was the accident, and then our parents died and then she was stuck with me to take care of her. The shitty older sister that left her for two years and changed so much that Ruby hardly even knew me.”

”You’re not being fair to yourself. Ruby loves you. I know she does,” Blake said, pulling up in the garage of the apartment complex. “She wouldn’t talk about what an awesome sister you are in Physics every five seconds if she didn’t think the world of you.”

Yang didn’t have anything left to say. She pulled her hand away from Blake’s and unclasped her seatbelt, grabbing their food and kicking open the car door. She all but sprinted to their door, Blake following closely behind.

”Well, you certainly took your time,” Weiss snarked, but Penny waved a hand in front of her face to quiet her.

”Good to see you too, Princess. Where’s Ruby?” Yang kicked off her shoes and set the food down in the kitchen.

Weiss’s crossed arms dropped slightly, and she looked like she was hugging herself now. “I-I’m sorry I had to call you. She was sleeping early because she has a morning class, and I don’t know what happened, she just woke up and started screaming and crying. Penny and I have handled her panic attacks before, you _know_ this, but this was just something else. She’s completely shut down now, it’s like she’s in a trance.”

Yang followed Penny into Ruby’s room, only to find her sister sitting on the edge of her bed, staring blankly at the floor. The blonde glanced behind her to find Blake and Weiss standing apprehensively, shuffling their feet and twirling their fingers. She looked back at Ruby and inhaled deeply before approaching her, shutting the door behind her.

She knelt down and looked her in the eyes. “Hey, Rubes,” she started, her voice barely above a whisper. “Haven’t had this much excitement in years, huh?” When she didn’t receive a response, she very carefully tapped Ruby’s fingers that were clenching the sides of the bed tightly. “Is this okay?”

Ruby’s nod was so small that Yang almost missed it. The blonde gave her a tiny, comforting smile when she made eye contact, her silver eyes glistening with tears. “Yang.” Her voice was broken and dry, but her tone was full of relief. “You’re alive. You’re okay.”

”Yup. As okay as I’ll ever be.” She grinned. “My heart is beating and my soul is singing. What about you?”

”You left me,” Ruby said, ignoring her question. “I had a dream you left again, b-but it wasn’t your choice. Raven was there, she made you leave. And then I was alone again.”

”Hey,” Yang murmured, bringing her hand up to wipe away Ruby’s tear. “I’m not leaving. You won’t be alone again.”

“Sometimes I have to remind myself you’re not Raven, you don’t turn your back on people that need you,” Ruby said, her bottom lip trembling. “But you did once.”

”I know, and there isn’t a single thing I wouldn’t do to make it up to you, kiddo.”

”You already did,” Ruby replied before throwing her arms around her neck and burying her face in her shoulder.

Yang didn’t respond. She held her sister until she finally fell back asleep, and set her back into a more comfortable position. She squeezed Ruby’s hand and exhaled deeply. “I’m not Raven.”

**Blake**

As Weiss and Penny conversed lowly between themselves, Blake was answering texts from her groupchat with Ilia, Sun, and Neptune.

_Sun: blaaaaaaakeeyyyyyy where r u??_

_Ilia: sun, she’s probably with her hot new roommate, training her to fuel her revenge against adam_

_Neptune: for the entire day tho? blake hasnt checked her phone once_

_Sun: shh what if shes banging her new roomie, dont wanna disturb_ her

Blake was suddenly regretting showing her friends a picture of Yang, and she was regretting _blushing_ in front of her friends even more. They would not let up with their teasing, but she knew they were truthfully happy that she’d actually managed a smile after her situation with Adam.

_Ilia: anyway blake, we were all thinking of paintball this weekend. wanna invite your roommates? the little one can invite her girlfriends too and we can make a day out of it._

_Blake: Hey guys, sorry for not seeing this earlier. I was with Yang, but we were just training._

_Blake: Paintball sounds good, I’ll ask them when I get the chance. What time?_

As Ilia gave her the details, Blake heard Ruby’s door open and close and Yang stepped out. Penny and Weiss jumped from their seats expectantly, and Blake looked up.

”How is she?” Weiss asked.

”She’s alright. I’m gonna stay with her for the night, so if you two wanted to stay in my room, you can. It’s pretty late, I don’t want y’all going out in the dark,” Yang responded, and Blake couldn’t help but smile at her sisterly tone. The blonde clearly cared about those two almost as much as her own sister. “That’s okay with you, right?”

Blake’s eyebrows shot up when she realized Yang was addressing her and all the attention in the room was directed to her. “Huh? Yeah, yeah, of course that’s okay. This is your apartment as much as it is mine.”

Yang grinned, and Blake couldn’t help but stare a little longer than normal. How the blonde managed to keep such a cheery demeanor despite the events of the day (not to mention all the events of her whole life) was beyond Blake. She couldn’t help but see her in a slightly different light, a feeling of respect blooming in her chest.

As Weiss, Penny, and Yang walked into the taller girl’s room to situate themselves for the night, Blake made her way to the kitchen and heated up the food that had been left forgotten earlier. Her eyes scanned around her cabinets, looking for her teabags almost frantically. She could’ve swore she left them here before...

”What’re you looking for?” Yang’s voice came from behind her.

”The teabags. I always drink some during the evenings, but I didn’t get any earlier,” Blake said, and she watched as lilac eyes widened.

“Oh, sorry, I put them at the top shelf. Probably should have told you, but all the cabinets up there were empty and there wasn’t a lot of space-“

”It’s okay,” Blake interrupted, taking her food out of the microwave when it beeped. Yang put her own food into the microwave afterwards. “There’s a reason I don’t put anything up there.”

She turned back around and got on her tippy toes, her fingers barely reaching the handle of the cabinet door. “Here,” Yang started, suddenly behind her and pulling open the door. “Let me.”

Blake’s face heated up at the sensation of Yang’s front against her back, and she leaned into the touch subtly, not keen on moving as Yang’s breath hit the top of her head. Her golden hair fell from her shoulders and tickled Blake’s nose, and she didn’t dare try to shuffle out of this. Instead, she waited as Yang (regrettably) pulled back. She turned to face the blonde, much more affected by their proximity now that they could see each other.

Violet eyes searched her amber ones, shaky fingers meeting as Yang handed her the teabags. She lingered there, her feet almost glued to the floor, overcome with emotions, unsure of what it was exactly that she was feeling.

”What’re you doing to me?” Yang murmured, her exhale fanning Blake’s face. And just like that, any feeling that Blake had been trying to keep repressed expanded until she couldn’t keep it under control anymore.

So Yang could feel it too — the undeniable tension that seemed to be bubbling between the two after only knowing each other for a few days. It was the type of whirlwind connection that Blake thought only existed in the books. She certainly hadn’t imagined she’d experience it for herself, and yet there she was, contemplating getting onto her toes and leaning forward just a little. Contemplating brushing her lips against Yang’s.

This was all too much, too fast. In any other case Blake might have cowered from this mix of emotions, but instead she felt herself being drawn to it. To Yang.

”I could ask you the same,” Blake whispered back, quiet, secretive. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be loud about this. She wanted all of this, all of Yang, to herself. She’d never felt _that_ much before, especially not this quickly.

They sprung apart as the microwave beeped obnoxiously loud, and it was difficult to imagine that entire exchange lasted a grand total of thirty seconds. Their tension had been nearly palpable, and though the sudden noise managed to jolt them away from their trances, it didn’t completely rid the air of the unspoken promises left between them.

Yang’s stomach growled on cue, and she laughed bashfully, gradually easing Blake out of the heated moment they’d just shared. “You wanna eat?”

”Um,” Blake responded smartly, ever the eloquent one.

Purple eyes lit up in amusement, and then Yang was giggling. “You’re cute.” She said it so easily, so matter-of-factly, so naturally.

Two words and Blake was a blushing, stuttering mess, completely unlike herself. “You’re so-“

”Irresistible? Charming? Devastatingly sexy?”

To Blake, Yang _was_ all of those things, but her teasing tone and faux-arrogance made her want to stuff a sock in her mouth. “Incorrigible.”

”I love it when you talk nerd to me.”

Blake rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her lips. Yang gasped suddenly, and the brunette looked up in alarm. “What?”

”You laughed! Kind of. But I’ll take it!” Yang was cheering, pumping her fist into the air in triumph.

The fact the taller girl was this excited about something as small as a chuckle was strangely endearing to Blake, and she couldn’t help but laugh again. 

“Oh my god!” Yang was practically shouting now, and Blake had to press a finger to her lips to get her to quiet down. Ruby, Penny, or Weiss would be able to hear them if they kept this up. Yang’s eyes crossed as she looked at Blake’s finger, so she retracted it reluctantly, ignoring the way her hand felt like it was on fire just from the barest touch of Yang’s lips against it.“Your laugh is so fucking adorable!”

“Shut up,” Blake grumbled, not even trying to fight off a smile at this point. She hopped up onto the kitchen counter, her burger in hand. “We should probably eat and get some sleep. How’re Weiss and Penny doing?”

”They’re okay,” Yang responded, digging her palms into the counter and jumping up so she was sitting beside Blake. “A little shocked at Ruby’s reaction. She hasn’t gotten this shaken up in a while, they haven’t seen her like this before. But she’s okay, she just... had a dream about me and Raven.”

Something about Yang body language and the way she picked at her food with her fork told Blake not to push the conversation forward. “Oh, yeah, nearly forgot. My friends invited us all to paintball. Ruby’s free to bring Penny and Weiss if she wants.”

”Really? When?” Yang perked up.

“This weekend. They’re excited to meet you.”

”Is it Ren and Nora?”

”No, they’re some of my friends before... um, Adam. When he and I started dating, he-“ Blake cut herself off. She didn’t exactly openly talk about her experiences with him, but the fact that Yang had been so willingly open with her made her want to do the same. “He wouldn’t let me spend time with them. Ilia, she and I had dated for a little while, and then Sun and I had too. They were honestly both really short relationships, and we kind of realized we were all better off as friends. But Adam was really possessive and jealous, and he didn’t want me to spend time with them. So I stopped, and we all sort of drifted. They tried not to break off ties with me, but it got to the point where if Sun so much as put his arm around my shoulder in a friendly way, or Ilia would give me a short hug, he’d lash out on them. Then he started taking my phone, getting all into my privacy. Blocked their numbers, and, yeah. After I finally managed to get away from him, I didn’t have anyone I could turn to.”

Yang was silent for a while, and Blake was afraid she’d said too much. Just as she was about to open her mouth to try and make some sort of excuse, she was beat to the punch. “I’ll win against him,” she promised. “We’ll win against him.”

”And we’ll win against Raven,” Blake added.

Yang turned to look at her, and Blake noted her red eyes had returned. A thrill shot up her spine at the intensity of her stare. “They don’t get to fuck with us anymore.”

***

The next few days rolled by smoothly. Whenever Yang and Blake weren’t training, they were either at work (or in Blake’s case at school). Ruby had recovered fairly quickly, and she chattered animatedly in the back of Blake’s car along with Penny and Weiss.

”So, you talked about me to your friends, huh?” Yang said, a smug smirk on her face as she wagged her eyebrows. “Good things I hope?”

“Nothing good to say, I’m afraid. I told them how insufferable you are,” Blake shot back. “But you’ll come to realize they’re just as annoying as you, so you’ll fit right in.”

”So, what’re they like?” The blonde asked. “I want them to like me.”

Blake thought she was joking for a moment, but when she glanced at Yang from the corner of her eye, she noticed the genuinely interested expression on her face. She made yet another mental note on how much better of a person Yang was compared to Adam. And, Blake realized, as each day she spent with Yang passed, it was another day she spent thinking less and less of Adam.

”Sun’s a lot like you. He’s a goofball, not the brightest but he’s really sweet and friendly. Neptune’s nice enough I guess, but mostly he’s just annoying and he’ll probably try to flirt with you-“

”-He knows I’m gay right?”

”And Ilia is probably the most levelheaded of them, but she may be a little tense around you. She wants to meet you, don’t get me wrong, but after Adam, she’s a bit...” Blake tilted her head, trying to choose the right words to describe her best friend. “Protective of me. Doesn’t want me to get close to another boxer, or something.”

”That makes sense,” Yang responded, bringing her fist up as if she was the hero of a children’s cartoon. “Guess I’ll just have to do this the hard way and show her myself that I’m not an asshole. Then I can get her grand ol’ permission for your hand in marriage so you and I can elope!”

Ruby gasped. “I knew you guys were engaged!”

”Yang, you’re ridiculous,” Weiss said, rolling her eyes. 

Penny laughed goodheartedly. “I’ve been told I’m a fantastic planner, so if you need somebody for your wedding...”

”My god,” Blake groaned, biting back an amused scoff.

”Pens, the whole point in eloping is not having a plan for it. You just do it spontaneously.”

”Weiss, Penny, we should do that!” Ruby said excitedly, drumming her feet against the floor of the car. “Yang, can we elope?”

”Ask them, not me. I’m obviously fine with it since I’m a such cool older sister.”

“You’re the coolest of cool big sisters,” Penny added in, and Ruby let out an enthusiastic agreement.

”Being the coolest big sister probably isn’t that difficult to accomplish considering most older sisters are jerks,” Weiss commented.

”You’re an older sister, Weiss. Or did you forget Whitley exists again?” Penny chimed in, and Yang snorted.

”You said it yourself, Princess. Older sisters are jerks.”

”I said _most._ Winter and I are both pretty good sisters, I wanna say,” Weiss countered, and Blake watched in the rearview mirror as Ruby rubbed her back comfortingly.

”Weiss, don’t listen to Yang, you’re great! She just likes to tease you, but she does love you!” The short brunette reassured.

”I don’t love you nearly as much as Ruby or Penny love you, but yeah. You’re basically my family,” Yang said easily, as if it was the most minuscule and obvious thing. But Blake had a feeling that the way Weiss smiled and stared at her hands meant that it was nice to hear.

As they pulled up to the paintball place, they all hopped out of the car. Yang stretched her arms up, her shoulder popping. Her t-shirt rose up slightly, giving Blake a glimpse at the hard ridges of her stomach. The brunette averted her gaze, pink tinging her face. This was so stupid. She saw Yang’s abs all the time when they’d train, so why was it any different now?

”Alright, y’all ready to whoop some ass?” Yang asked, pressing her fist against her palm with a competitive glint in her eyes. Ruby, Penny, and even Weiss all raised their arms up and cheered. 

“Blakey!” Sun’s voice rang out, and suddenly she was being lifted into his arms and spun around. She shoved her knee forward sharply, making contact with his hip, and he let her go. “Ow, hey!”

”What’d I say about sneak attacks!” she hissed out, fixing her ruffled shirt.

”Hel- _lo_ gorgeous,” Neptune’s greeting interrupted Blake’s _heartfelt_ exchange with Sun. The blue-haired boy sidled up to Yang. “You’re even more stunning in person.”

”I’m also a lot gayer in person too!” Yang enthusiastically included. Then she turned her head to look at Blake, an annoyingly smug expression plastered on her face. “So you’ve shown them pictures of me, huh?”

”I’ve shown them pictures of Ruby, Weiss, and Penny too, don’t go thinking you’re special,” Blake said hotly, refusing to let herself get flustered by Yang.

”Alright,” a new voice cut in, and Blake perked up. Ilia was twirling a keychain around her fingers as she approached them. “This everyone?”

”Yeah,” Blake responded. “Ilia, this is Yang, Ruby, Weiss, and Penny. Guys, these are some of my oldest friends, Ilia, Neptune, and Sun.”

”Salutations!”

”Hiiiiii!”

”Pleasure to meet you all.”

Neptune waved, leaning his elbow against his car coolly before accidentally slipping and letting out a disgruntled noise. “Uh, ‘sup?” He greeted, obviously trying to play it off and failing epically.

”Man, I’ve been so pumped to meet you all.” Sun jumped excitedly, running his fingers through his hair before shaking Yang’s hand. “Blake has been talking about you nonstop.”

“She’s been talking about _you_ guys nonstop too!” Ruby said, grinning back at him. “Now let’s play some paintball!”

The group used a team randomizer to choose who’d be on whose team. “It’d be totally unfair if Yang and Blake were on the same team,” Neptune complained. “They’re like total powerhouses.”

”I’m pretty sure boxing and paintball don’t have a lot to do with each other.” Yang frowned. “But _fine._ Separate us if you want, see if I care! You’ll never separate our love for each other! I will fight tooth and nail for-“

”Oh my god,” Blake groaned as Ruby and Penny fell into a fit of giggles. Weiss snorted as Sun, Neptune, and Ilia all exchanged bewildered glances. “Now I really don’t wanna be on the same team as you.”

Yang clutched her heart as if she’d been shot. “Oh, my love, you wound me!”

”Anyway,” Weiss slapped her hand over Yang’s mouth, the situation only growing more comical because she had to get on her toes to reach Yang’s face. “What’re the teams?”

”Ah, so the randomizer says...” Ilia paused as she read over it. “Yang, me, Sun, and Neptune are blue team. Blake, Weiss, Ruby, and Penny are the red team.”

”Aw nice, we’ll kick their asses!” Sun lifted his fist up for Neptune to pound.

Weiss shot her hand away from Yang suddenly, wiping her palm on Ruby’s shirt with a disgusted look on her face. “Ew, Yang why would you lick me?”

”You honestly should have expected that,” Yang said with a shrug.

”Yeah, you kind of had it coming if you didn’t think Yang would do something like that,” Penny agreed, raising her hands up when Weiss gave her a bewildered and betrayed look.

“Alright ladies,” Ruby laced her fingers together and stretched her arms in front of her, successfully cracking her knuckles. “Let’s get our revenge on Yang by winning this thing!”

**Yang**

“Alright, so the rules are that if we get hit, we can still hit others, but we can’t get the flag. So here’s the plan,” Ilia started as the two teams separated. “This is capture the flag paintball, so all we need to do is keep one person as a defender and the rest of us can scatter. Sun, I want you to be the decoy defender. Make them think the flag is wherever you’re guarding, but _Yang_ will be the one actually guarding it. Neptune, you and I are gonna search for their flag. Understood?”

”Who voted you leader?” Neptune muttered, but Yang elbowed him.

”That was a great plan, don’t complain,” she scolded, before throwing Ilia a determined nod and a grin. “Let’s kick some ass.”

After Ilia hid their flag under a tree root, Yang and Sun got into position, sharing a knowing look. Neptune and Ilia took off, and soon they were out of sight, the scattered sounds of paintball guns bursting into the air.

”And so it has begun,” she muttered under her breath, holding her gun tighter.

A sudden blur of red whipped past her sight and Yang tensed. She aimed her gun up, trying to follow where the movement came from, then she pulled the trigger as the figure came closer to her.

”Ow!” Ruby cried. “My leg!”

Yang knew it was probably a trap, but she ran towards her anyway. “Shit, sorry Rubes. You oka-“

Her eyes widened as Ruby raised her gun to shoot her, but Yang skirted behind a tree just in time. “Damn it!” Ruby cursed when she missed.

”Well that was just mean.” Yang peeked past her tree and lined up her gun with her eye and shot Ruby again, this time nicking her on the hip. She laughed maniacally before shooting again. “How’s that feel?”

”Jeez Yang, you’re brutal,” Ruby wheezed. “And also, extremely gullible.”

A shot rang out and Yang turned to see Blake standing over Sun, red splattered over his chest. “Yang... run... while you still can,” he grunted out dramatically. “I fear, this is the last the world will see of Sun Wukong.”

”Where the hell’s the flag?” Blake demanded, expressing more emotions than Yang had ever seen out of her. The blonde found that she was beginning to like this competitive side of her.

“You won’t find it,” Yang called out with a smirk, leveling her gun to Blake’s back. “It’s over for you, red team.”

She faltered when Blake turned around, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. “Please,” she begged. “Don’t do it. Find it in your heart to spare me.”

”I-“ Yang’s moment of hesitation was costly. Blake had already pulled her trigger and shot Yang in the foot. “Ow! Fuck! These things hurt!”

Blake smirked. “Tell me where the flag is and this will all be over quickly.”

”Never! I’d rather die than betray my team!” Yang spat before crying out as Blake shot her in the leg this time.

”Wrong answer. Where’s the flag?”

”Up... your... ass.” She gritted her teeth.

”Blake! I found it! But I’m out of the game, I can’t grab it!” Ruby cried out.

”That’s totally cheating!” Sun shouted.

Blake ran over to where Ruby was pointing, but Yang grabbed her from her waist and yanked her back, falling over on her butt from the force.

”You can’t grab me, that’s against the rules!” Blake squirmed, but Yang only squeezed tighter. She tried not to think too much on the sensation of Blake’s body in her arms.

”So’s emotional manipulation!” Yang argued. “How dare you use my weakness for cute crying women against me!”

”We got the flag! We got the flag!” Ilia cried from afar, throwing it into the ground triumphantly when she reached them.

”We won, losers!” Neptune cheered, though the red all over his chest would indicate he got shot out of the game.

Weiss, completely covered in blue, crossed her arms with a scowl. “You lost the moment Penny spotted you.”

”And _you_ lost the moment Ilia spotted you. We’re even,” Neptune mimicked her position.

”Will you let go of me now? You already won,” Blake huffed, having given up her struggle in Yang’s arms moments before. “Please.”

”Well, since you asked so nicely.” Yang reluctantly released her, and the brunette scrambled out of her arms, brushing herself off.

”That was so fun!” Penny said. “We should play again sometime!”

”I don’t wanna play with these cheaters.” Ruby pointed at Yang accusingly.

The taller girl gasped. “I’m no cheater.”

”You held me down!” Blake scoffed.

”And you liked it,” Yang added with a wink, a warm feeing blooming in her chest when she received a furious blush from Blake.

”Will you two stop flirting for five seconds?” Weiss narrowed her eyes. “Honestly, keep it in your pants, at least for my sanity.”

“I am not flirting.”

”I certainly am.”

”And we’re done here,” Ilia finally interrupted, slapping her hand to her forehead. “Let’s go give the paintball guns back.”

As they registered out and went back to their cars, they said their farewells to Ilia, Neptune, and Sun.

”Thanks so much for inviting us,” Yang said, accepting a hug from Sun. “This was really fun.”

”Yeah, I had a blast!” Neptune cheerily announced, wrapping his arms around Yang after she finished hugging Sun.

”It was great to finally meet you all. Nice to know Blake’s got such good company.” Ilia nodded, her gray eyes lingering on Yang for a second longer. “She’s in good hands.”

”Hope to see you all soon!” Ruby waved as she hopped into the back with Weiss and Penny, her head in Weiss’s lap and her legs in Penny’s.

As Blake started the car, Ilia pulled Yang off to the side, telling Neptune and Sun to sit in the car and wait for a moment.

”What’s up?” Yang asked, not entirely sure why she was being singled out here.

”Look, I don’t know how much Blake has told you about Adam, but you’ve gotta understand, I’m really wary about her getting involved with dangerous people again. I just need to make sure you don’t have any kind of ill-intentions with-“

”I would rather lose my arm than be anything like Adam,” Yang said, stopping her in her tracks.

Ilia held her gaze, searching for something in her face. She must have found it because she chuckled and looked down, shaking her head. “Alright. I’ll have to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

”That’s all I ask of you. You’re a good friend, you know.” Yang’s words made Ilia look back up. “I get why you’re looking out for her, but you gotta know, I’m looking out for her too. I’m gonna help her get past this with Adam.”

As they said their final goodbyes, Yang clambered into the car and sighed out. Blake raised an eyebrow at her. “What was that all about?”

”I just gained her permission for your hand in marriage, no biggie,” Yang replied with a wink.

”Oh how exciting. I think in all your trouble to ask Ilia for my hand in marriage, you forgot to ask _me_ for it though.” Blake laughed and the melodious sound was enough for Yang to get drunk on.

”Well whaddya say then? Wanna get hitched?”

”Will you two shut it?” Weiss snapped. “One conversation. I would like one conversation without you two practically eye-fucking each other.”

”Let them have one thing.” Penny placed her hand on the white-haired girl’s shoulder and she immediately relaxed.

”Yeah Weiss,” Yang taunted. “Let us have this one thing or else I won’t allow you to marry my sister.”

Both Ruby’s and Weiss’s faces reddened while Penny giggled.

“Anyways Blake,” Yang said returning her attention to the driver. “You never answered my question.”

”Ask me again in a year.” Blake chanced a look away from the road and shot a smirk at the blonde, successfully stunning her.

”R-Right. Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Weiss sighed. ”I hate gay people.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lemme know yall’s thoughts on the newest rwby episode!!! that shit was crazyyy


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// slight violence and blood, emotional manipulation
> 
> hey everyone!! since there was no rwby episode today, i decided to make this chapter a bit longer and take a bit of the next chapter and put it into this one. there’s probably gonna be a couple spelling/grammar errors since i haven’t had time to looked over it. any and all feedback is welcome! hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading :)

**Yang**

Days blended together and turned into weeks, which quickly turned into a month and a half. The tournament was now just four weeks away, and Yang noted just how serious Blake was becoming at the mere thought.

Yang deftly dodged Blake’s punch, panting in exhaustion before bringing her arms up to block the next hit. She drove her knee forward, but the shorter girl was faster, and she was already sidestepping. She drove an elbow into Yang’s ribs, forcing her to jump away and spin around.

Blake kept her punches and kicks coming, unrelenting and untiring, until eventually Yang was backed up against the net with her hands up in surrender.

”Yang, what’d I say about dodging back? It leaves you open for more attacks, but if you dodge to the side-“

”I know,” Yang interrupted, fatigue and irritation setting in and making her skin crawl. “I know, but I’ve been at this for more than _five_ hours. I trained with you, Nora, _and_ Pyrrha, I’m tired.”

”If you were up against Adam right now-“

”Well I’m not, am I? I still have a month to go, and even then I’m probably not going to face him until the finals, which is another month on top of that! You said it yourself, I can get through to the semifinals _easily._ He’s my biggest threat.”

”And if a newbie comes in and is twice as good as you? What then? You have to train for every possible outcome, you can’t get overconfident now!” Blake argued back, rubbing her temples in frustration. “I thought you wanted to win this!”

”I do!” Yang clenched her jaw, crossing her arms and looking down at Blake. The brunette’s eyes were fiery, full of anger that Yang knew wasn’t completely directed at her. “Trust me, I want to shove my foot up Adam’s ass almost as badly as you do. But what good am I at fighting if I’ve worn myself out beforehand?”

”Adam is probably training his ass off. Right. Now. You need to be doing double the work to counter that.”

”As far as I’m concerned, I think I’m doing triple! I need a break, there is no way this is good for my muscles. You know there’s this thing called overworking, and right now you’re doing it. And you’re making me do it too.”

“I’m doing it?”

”Yes! You are obsessed. And trust me, I get it Blake. He’s an asshole and he deserves all hell, but you can’t give him what he wants. He wants his influence on you to be so great that you can’t function like a proper human being without thinking about him in some shape or form. He wants to ruin you, and you’re letting him get to you.”

”So you’re just saying let him go? Let him get away with it all?”

”I’m saying, don’t hurt yourself because he hurt you. We want _him_ to hurt. And I want him to choke on my fist, believe me, I do. But if you want me to be able to beat him, we both need breaks.”

Blake’s face twisted with a myriad of emotions, processing Yang’s words before she glared so sharply, Yang actually took a tiny step back. “How can I expect you to win against him in two months when you can’t even beat me after a month?” she spat.

Yang didn’t get the chance to even process Blake’s words when her phone started ringing, relieving the blonde of a response. She was well aware that her eyes probably turned red in the middle of the conversation, but she shoved her anger aside and answered her sister’s call, “Hey, Ruby.”

”Yang? You okay?”

”Hm?” Yang looked back at Blake before jumping out of the ring and walking to the showers, out of earshot from the brunette. “No, yeah, I’m okay. Got in an argument with Blake but it’s not a big deal.”

”Oh, um...” Ruby trailed off. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Yang shrugged before realizing that her sister wouldn’t be able to see it. “It’s okay,” she said instead. “Like I said, no big deal. Did you need something?”

”I stayed at campus a little later with Penny and Weiss, and now all the buses have gone. I was wondering if I could get a ride home, but if you and Blake had a fight-“

”It wasn’t a fight, it was, uh, it was a disagreement. I’ll tell her. See you in a twenty minutes.”

”Thanks, Yang. I love you!”

”I love you too, kiddo.”

After a quick shower and an explanation to Blake, the two sat in silence in her car, avoiding each other’s gazes and letting the hum of the engine fill the silence.

Turning to the other girl, Yang opened her mouth and hesitated, willing herself to do anything, say anything, but the tick in Blake’s jaw and the tenseness of her shoulders kept her from it. She chewed on her lip and looked back out the window just as the car parked.

Yang held up a finger to Blake, indicating for her to wait a minute before wordlessly hopping out of the car and making her way to the entrance where she usually met with Ruby, only to find her sister’s fist connecting with a tall redhead man’s face.

“Don’t _fucking_ touch her!” Ruby screamed, her hand coiled so tightly that it was visibly shaking.

The man clutched his nose, his face full of alarm. “That Schnee girl-“

“Hey, what the hell?” Yang interrupted, putting her body between Ruby and the redhead. One of his eyes was covered with an eyepatch, and she searched his face for a moment before realizing who this was. She’d watched one of his fights before. Watched as her own mother had patted him on the back and congratulated him for nearly beating a man to death within seconds. “Adam?”

”Why are you defending that Schnee girl?” He spat out in rage, lifting his hand away from his nose. A flare of satisfaction rose in Yang’s chest when she saw a bruise already blooming. His remaining eye was trained on someone behind Yang, so she glanced back.

Weiss and Penny were on their knees, the redhead holding her girlfriend and glaring up at Adam harshly. Weiss separated from Penny just for a moment, and it was enough for Yang to see blood trickling out of her nose. The blonde whipped back around to face him and before she could even think about it, her fist was flying towards his already bruised nose. But he was expecting it this time, and he jolted backwards with a speed that left Yang’s heart pounding in fear.

”Ruby, Penny, take Weiss back to Blake’s car. Tell her I’ll be back in a minute.”

”Weiss, you’re bleeding,” Ruby squeaked, her thumb wiping away a tear that escaped Weiss’s blue eyes.

”Yeah, out of my uterus and my nose now,” she groaned back. “It’s just my fucking day.”

”Language,” Yang tutted back instinctively.

”Now is not the time!” Ruby hissed out the same time Weiss said, “I’m older than you!”

”Come on.” Penny helped Weiss up, shooting another dirty look at Adam. Ruby came onto Weiss’s other side, throwing a concerned expression at Yang over her shoulder before walking away.

Yang faced Adam down, her face morphed in unbridled anger. “Fucking coward,” she growled. “What is it with you and attacking unsuspecting women?”

”The Schnee family is-“

”Jacque Schnee is a fucking asshole, I am well aware,” Yang cut in, crossing her arms. “But the rest of them are nothing like him. Nobody gives a damn about your personal vendetta with the guy, leave the people I care about out of it.”

”Who the hell do you even think you are?”

”The person that’s gonna kick your ass in the finals,” A new voice cut in. Yang didn’t have to turn to see who it was.

”Blake,” Adam greeted, an eerie smile touching his lips. “So nice of you to join us, my love.”

**Blake**

Blake was honestly expecting that the next time she confronted Adam, she’d be paralyzed with fear, but after seeing Weiss with a bloody nose, Ruby and Penny doing whatever they could to help her, Blake found that she felt nothing but rage.

”Shove a sock in it before I fucking take your other eye,” she threatened, venom laced within her voice. “You don’t get to barge into people’s lives and ruin them just because you can, Adam.”

”If her fucking girlfriend hadn’t come in, I would’ve done a lot worse,” he said. He looked between Blake and Yang who were standing side-by-side and glaring him down. “You two can’t seriously think that blondie here’s gonna be able to beat me at the tournament.”

”Not by myself,” Yang spoke up. “But _I’m_ not gonna be winning against you.” Her fingers found Blake’s, and she squeezed her hand gently before letting go, an unspoken promise and unspoken apology sparking between them from that simple act. “We are. This is as much her fight as it is mine.”

”To think that everything you ever taught me about fighting is now gonna be shoved right back into your face,” Blake almost laughed out. “Ironic, no?”

”I know who you are,” Adam claimed, his eye on Yang. “Your mom’s told me everything about you. Your arm after your accident. The way you were trembling like a baby the last time you saw her. You really think I won’t dish out your weaknesses?”

”That implies she has any weaknesses.” Blake raised her chin up and out of the corner of her eye, Yang turned to look in alarm. “We both saw your fight. You’ve been training, Adam. But so has Yang. She’s not the same fighter that Raven remembers her to be.”

”Watch your back at finals,” Yang added, her hand at Blake’s elbow. She began to tug the brunette away, though her eyes never wavered from Adam for a second.

As the two turned around to stalk away, Blake felt a tug at the back of her head, and only slightly registered that Adam had yanked her hair to pull her back.

Before she could even open her mouth to cry out, though, Yang had brought her knee up and right between his legs. Yang’s feet were planted in front of Blake as she shielded her from Adam. “What the hell are you, five?” she shouted. “You think pulling her hair while she isn’t looking is gonna solve anything?” She shoved him as she spoke. “Look, we can fight it out, right here, right now if you want to. But if you wanna fight it out fair and square at the tournament, we can do that too. Either way, we’re gonna win. Am I understood?”

After several long, heated moments of Adam looking between them and weighing the choices presented to him, he finally turned away and walked off, probably realizing that he wouldn’t stand a chance against both of them. Blake’s shoulders sagged in relief, a multitude of emotions washing over her at the entire confrontation.

Yang raised her arm as if touch Blake, but she faltered and dropped her hand. “Let’s check on Weiss. Ruby looked fucking pissed.”

”Did you see Penny?” Blake asked. “I thought her eyes were gonna light on fire, she was so mad.”

As they made their way back to Blake’s car, Ruby and Penny were still fussing over the white-haired girl who now had tissues stuffed up her nostrils.

”How you feelin’ Princess?” Yang inquired as they sat down.

”Like I got shoved into a wall,” she grumbled, her voice comically nasally because of the tissues. “Oh wait, I did.”

”Who was that guy?” Penny asked, her green eyes watery. Blake felt a twist in her stomach at the redhead’s expression.

“The guy whose ass I’m gonna kick at the tournament,” Yang answered.

”Blake’s ex?” Ruby chimed in, raising her eyebrows at the brunette. “Man, now I’m really glad I punched him.”

There was a long silence as Blake started the car and began to drive back to their apartment. Yang laughed despite the situation. Everyone turned to look at her in bewilderment.

”What’s so funny?” Weiss frowned.

”Rubes just decked Adam Taurus in the fucking nose.” Yang snorted, laughter bubbling out of her again. “Serves him right.”

“And I’d do it again.” Ruby sat up straighter. “Nobody touches either of my girlfriends.”

“Yang, do me a favor?” Weiss said. The blonde raised an eyebrow, indicating to her to continue. “Punch him a hundred more times in the finals.”

“Make that a thousand,” Penny corrected, her voice tight.

”’Course, Princess,” Yang affirmed with a shrug. “Thought it was obvious that I was already gonna do that.”

As Blake parked in the garage, they all shuffled out of the car and back into the apartment, spent from the day’s events. Ruby gave Yang a short hug before leading Penny and Weiss to her bedroom door. The shorter brunette paused for a moment before cupping Weiss’s face and pressing a gentle kiss on her forehead. The white-haired girl’s face turned pink and she glanced to look at Blake in embarrassment, obviously not used to being coddled in front of other people.

Yang watched the interaction with a soft smile before retreating to her own room, moving her eyes back at Blake with something in her expression that looked like an invitation. When Blake followed her in, the blonde’s smile widened.

Yang sat on her bed and patted the spot in front of her, and Blake hesitatingly sat down. “What a day, huh?” she started awkwardly.

”Yeah.” Yang nodded. “How’re you doing?”

”Me?”

”Well yeah, that was your asshole ex. He... hurt you. I honestly have no idea how you were still standing.”

Blake didn’t know what else to say besides the truth. “Because you were there with me the whole time.”

Yang didn’t respond for several long seconds, and Blake was content to just look into her violet eyes as she mustered her feelings together. “I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I promise I’m taking this seriously.”

” _You’re_ sorry? I was such an asshole to you earlier. I shouldn’t have said half the things I said, I know you’ve been training hard.”

”You kidding?” Yang exclaimed. “I was way out of line. It’s not like I’m your therapist, I’m only here to help you beat him and then I’m gone.”

Blake’s insides churned at her words. That’s right. Yang was going to leave after her fight with Adam, that was the deal.

It was so strange to even consider. She felt like she hadn’t smiled, hadn’t _lived,_ this much until she’d barged her way into the blonde’s life. And now she didn’t want to let go of those smiles, of that life. She thought she’d feel fulfilled when she finally managed to defeat Adam, but she was already starting to feel something like closure just by spending time with Yang.

She didn’t want her to leave.

”I don’t want you to leave,” she vocalized, watching as Yang’s eyebrows rose slowly. She looked on as a watery smile suddenly broke onto her face and the taller girl nodded in understanding.

”I won’t.”

Blake couldn’t ground herself if she tried. That overwhelming desire bubbled up within her, and just like before, she thought about how this was too much, too fast.

And yet this _longing_ in the pit of her stomach was blurring her every logical thought. She felt drawn to her, her body buzzing with anticipation as Yang leaned forward in unison.

Almost on cue, a knock sounded on their door and the two sprung away just as Ruby poked her head in.

”Hey, sorry if I’m interrupting anything.”

”Uh, nope.” Yang cleared her throat. “Not interrupting anything.”

Blake hid her face behind her hands in embarrassment — or perhaps to quell the butterflies — before sighing out. “You doing okay, Ruby?”

”I was gonna ask you the same thing,” Ruby responded, edging into the room and looking down at her hands. “How are you, Blake?”

Blake noted with a small sense of awe just how caring both Ruby and Yang were; constantly putting others’ wellbeing over themselves. “I’m okay. Thank you. But don’t think you’re getting out of my question. How are you?”

”I-“ Ruby’s voice wavered. “I’m angry. Weiss is hurt.”

”If anyone can handle a situation like this, it’s Weiss,” Yang reassured. “Hell, the first time you two met, you smacked her in the face with an umbrella. I swear her nose has been through it all.”

Ruby laughed then. “Yeah, she’s something else. The only reason she calmed down then was ‘cause Penny managed to handle everything. Between me freaking out because I thought I killed her and Weiss freaking out because she thought her nose was broken, Penny did a great job with it.”

”You know,” Blake admitted, “I’ve always loved your relationship with them. You’re so...”

”Wholesome?” Yang offered. “Healthy? Downright adorable?”

”All of those and more.”

”I’m sorry you had to face Adam,” Ruby blurted out, cutting off their conversation suddenly. “I feel like if we hadn’t engaged with him-“

”How the hell is any of this your fault?” Blake asked, knitting her eyebrows together. “He’s always been an asshole.”

”I don’t know, I guess, it was just so easy for him to get to us. I have no idea how you managed to deal with that for so many years. And I’m sorry that you did.”

Blake couldn’t help but smile softly, get onto her feet, and wrap Ruby into a hug. The other girl immediately reacted, burying her face into Blake’s hair and squeezing her with her arms.

”Adam has a way of making people blame themselves for things he’s done,” Blake said when they separated. “Don’t give him that satisfaction.”

”I wish I could’ve punched him again. That felt great.”

”Yeah, that was fucking awesome,” Yang added in with a snicker. “I was so satisfied when I kneed his dick for grabbing Blake’s hair.”

”He did what?” Ruby gasped. “Is he five?”

”That’s what Yang said,” Blake snorted. “But it’s fine. I was actually thinking of cutting it. My hair, I mean.”

”Ooh, you should get Yang to do it! She used to cut my hair when we were younger, and she was great at it!”

”That was before the accident though,” Yang argued with an exhale. “I don’t wanna fuck up her hair.”

”What about the time you cut Penny’s hair last year? That was after the accident and your hand didn’t shake once,” Ruby shot back. “Blake, tell her, she’ll listen to you!”

“It doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but if you don’t feel comfortable with it, you shouldn’t feel obligated to.” Blake decided to stay neutral on the subject, giving Yang the freedom to choose.

Yang didn’t say anything for a few moments before she finally shrugged, relenting easily. “Why not? If it ends up like shit, you can always just get it fixed at a hair salon.”

”Yes!” Ruby cheered, pumping her fist into the air.

”What the hell are you still doing here you little gremlin?” Yang shooed. “Go hang out with your girlfriends.”

”Why? So you can hang out with yours?”

”Blake’s not my-“ Yang sighed. “Whatever, just get out before you suggest to Blake that I’m a great back massager or some shit.”

”Your words not mine,” Ruby said with a grin, but a playful glare from Yang had her darting out the door with a cackle.

”Back massage, huh?” Blake turned back to Yang with a teasing smirk. She relished in the sight of Yang’s face heating up.

”I’m also great at this thing called boxing. Perhaps you want me to show you that too?”

”Something tells me I’d win.”

”Something tells me I’d eventually manage to pin you down.”

”So? I’d still consider that a win.” Both Blake and Yang were thrown off by the suggestiveness in the brunette’s tone, but she didn’t let her smirk slip.

”Guess we’d both win then,” Yang replied, though her voice was more of a whisper now.

Blake sat back down in front of Yang, their eyes never leaving each other’s. She leaned closer, her lips leveled with the blonde’s ear.

“So,” she started, pleased to see Yang visibly shiver when her breath hit her ear. “How about that haircut, huh?” She sprung away, laughing at Yang’s dumbfounded look. She recovered astonishingly quickly.

“Right. Hair. How short do you want it cut?” she asked as she jumped from the bed and began rummaging around for everything she needed.

”Uh,” Blake paused, twirling a few strands around a finger. “Let me think.”

”Take your time babe,” the blonde said casually before freezing in realization at her slip-up. “I mean, just, take how ever long you need. Completely friendly babe.”

Blake snorted as she entered the bathroom, Yang right behind her. “Sure. I was thinking... shoulder length?”

The other girl nodded, then got to work, her fingers smoothly guiding through her hair and snipping carefully. Blake twitched when Yang’s knuckles gently brushed against the back of her neck, her entire body feeling like it had come to life.

God, she had become so pathetic this past month.

”Sorry,” the taller girl whispered. “Try not to move your head.” With that, she tentatively gripped the side of Blake’s head and shifted it so she could angle her cuts better.

She tried not to squirm so much, but she couldn’t help that her body decided to become putty as Yang’s scattered, delicate touches burned through her skin in every right way. After years of being handled so roughly by someone who claimed he cared for her, it felt unreal when someone who actually did care for her treated her so attentively.

After a few achingly long minutes, Yang exhaled, her breath hitting the back of Blake’s head. “All done. What d’you think?”

Her eyes widened at the sight of herself in the mirror, Yang grinning right beside her. She hadn’t kept her hair short since she was a child; before Adam and before his demands for her to grow it out. Not only did she look cleaner, but when the other girl was beside her, it felt _right._ It felt... “Perfect.”

“Yeah you are,” Yang said with an exaggerated wink. “You should probably take a shower. Don’t want any excess hair on your scalp.”

Before Yang could turn around, however, Blake tugged her forward and pressed her into a tight hug. Her ear was against Yang’s chest, and she listened to her quickening heartbeat with a sigh.

”Thank you,” she breathed out. And the way Yang gripped her back meant she understood. She understood that Blake was thanking her for more than just the haircut, or even the way she’d stayed by Blake’s side while they confronted Adam. She was thanking her for everything.

***

**Yang**

“Winter, please, she’s fine,” Yang said in exasperation as the older girl talked her ear off over the phone. “She is well taken care of, I assure you. She has _two_ girlfriends who’d do everything and more for her. Plus me, who’d do almost everything. I certainly wouldn’t do half the amount of things that Ruby and Penny like t-“

”Yang, I’m going to hang up on you if you finish that sentence.”

”Kind of the plan,” Yang responded with a snort.

”I’m driving down tomorrow night,” Winter announced with a tone of finality.

The blonde held back a groan and instead let out a weak “okay” before hanging up. She really did not want to deal with that woman right now.

She tucked her phone into her pocket and finished cooking the salmon she’d prepared for the night. She glanced back when she saw Ruby, Penny, and Weiss emerging from her room.

”Hey Rubes, can you set the table?” she asked, then turned to the white-haired girl when Ruby flashed her a thumbs up. “Princess, how’re you doing?”

”I wanna die,” she groaned, clutching her stomach. “Why do periods even exist for lesbians?”

Penny giggled, then began to spit out random facts about queer women starting families and the importance of a uterus, so Yang turned back to her salmon and prepared it for the table.

”Ooh, what smells good?” Blake asked as she exited the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel.

Ruby gasped suddenly and looked like she was going to bounce right into the ceiling. “Blaaaaaaake! Your haircut looks amazing! Yang’s really outdone herself!”

”Yeah, you look hot,” the blonde added in without a hint of a tease or lie. Blake’s face heated up, so Yang continued, “I made salmon. Take a seat ‘n’ dinner is served m’lady.”

As they dug in, they all conversed easily with bouts of laughter springing up every now and then. “Yang,” Weiss said seriously. “Thanks for the food... and everything else today.”

She beamed. “Of course, Princ- wait a second. Is that Ruby’s sweatshirt?”

The other girl looked down at her clothes then looked back up. “...yes? Why?”

”Ruby! That’s so unfair, you never let me steal your clothes.” Yang pouted, crossing her arms.

”Weiss gets girlfriend privileges! Plus you’re like two sizes bigger than me!” Ruby defended.

”And all your hoodies are like fifty sizes bigger than you. This is such bull, I let you borrow my clothes all the time. Sister privileges should trump girlfriend privileges.”

”You give me your hoodies because they all get too small on you. You’re just mad you don’t have a girlfriend to steal hoodies from.”

”Fine! Since you have two girlfriends to steal from, I’m never giving you my clothes again. Penny, you can have any clothes that get to small on me now.”

”As delightful as that sounds, I think Ruby would just end up taking them from me,” Penny responded, earning a betrayed look from the short brunette.

”Penny! Why would you tell her that?”

”Fine,” Yang decided suddenly. “Blake, you can take my hoodies whenever you want.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Thanks? I think.”

”You _should_ be,” Ruby said, slamming a palm against the table. “Yang’s clothes are so comfy.”

Weiss sighed dreamily. “Yeah, they really are.”

Yang’s neck snapped to her so fast she almost got whiplash. “How would you know?”

”Well when they get too small on Ruby, she gives them to me. I have an entire cabinet of just your hoodies.”

”Wow, Ruby. Just wow.”

”I’m so confused right now,” Blake muttered to Penny, who just shrugged.

”I’d say just let them hash this out until they get tired. It’ll happen eventually,” the polite redhead explained.

Yang stood up dramatically before pointing to Ruby’s door. “Go to your room!”

”Fine!” Ruby also stood up before marching over but not entering yet.

”Fine!”

”Fine!”

“ _Fine!”_

Yang stuck her tongue out immaturely, only for Ruby to mirror her actions.

”You’re sure this is normal?” Blake asked, and Weiss just rolled her eyes.

”I swear, those two have the strangest relationship I have ever seen. I can’t even say this is normal sister behavior since Winter and I certainly never act like that.”

Yang finally let go of her conversation with Ruby in favor of talking to Weiss. “Oh yeah, Weiss. Winter called and said she’s coming tomorrow night. Are you still gonna be here or do you wanna meet her back at your own place? I’m only asking because I have to send her the address.”

”Oh,” Weiss’s eyebrows shot up and her mouth fell open slightly. “She... wants to see me?”

Yang softened. “Yeah, she’s worried. You should’ve heard her.”

But Weiss, ever the emotionless one, dropped her eyebrows and creased her face into a neutral expression. “Okay. Tell her to meet me here.”

Penny rubbed Weiss’s back soothingly. “You okay?” When she received a nod, Penny just tutted and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Babe, you know you don’t have to pretend in front of us.”

And just like that, Weiss crumpled right into Penny’s arms. “It’s not like Winter’s a bad sister. I love her.” Her voice shook. “But I feel like she only visits when I’m in trouble. What if she starts thinking I’m faking my injuries just to see her? I don’t have any other family nearby, what else am I supposed to do?”

Ruby joined Weiss’s other side and squeezed her hand. “Have you talked to her about it?”

”To a degree... but she’s never been the type to discuss feelings.” Weiss let out a sudden frustrated sound, standing abruptly. “No. No way am I gonna mope around over this. If she wants to visit when I’m injured, then that’s her own issue to sort out.”

Yang’s eyes widened at the sudden mood shift, but she recovered quickly with a toothy smile. “Hell yeah, Princess. You show the Ice Queen up.”

”I will!” she exclaimed, only to cut her rampage of triumph off with a yawn. “After I get some sleep.”

Penny laughed and led her girlfriends away, throwing back a small “good night!” as they left. Blake threw Yang a bemused expression.

”I feel like everyone was on some sort of different energy today,” she commented, and the blonde could only shrug.

”I think we _all_ need a break. I’mma probably head to bed too.” Yang stretched her arms above her head and released a breath. “Good night.”

The corners of Blake’s eyes crinkled as the sides of her lips turned upwards. “Sleep well, Yang.”

***

Yang was stumped.

It was Monday, so it was her one cheat day of the week. She got to sleep in and watch TV all day with no responsibilities whatsoever. Ruby had agreed to do her laundry for her that morning before heading to classes, so she essentially had nothing to wear. Which led to her predicament.

She just stepped out of the shower and was planning on going out to pick up some ingredients for dinner, but almost all her clothes were in the wash, save for her favorite yellow hoodie. But she couldn’t find it anywhere. So she stepped out of her room in nothing but the tank-top and shorts she slept in, and rung out her hair with a towel, calling Blake’s name.

”I’m in the kitchen!” The response rang out, so Yang followed the origin of the voice to talk to her. “Jeez, Yang, put on some clothes.”

”I _would_ , but it’s laundry day. Have you seen my yellow hoodie anywhere? It’s got a, like, fire print-“ she cut herself off when she was met with the sight of Nora and Ren, along with Blake who was _wearing her yellow hoodie._ “Hey! That’s mine!”

“Yesterday you said I could take any hoodies I wanted!” Blake protested, shooting Nora and Ren a nervous glance. The two newcomers didn’t hide their amusement well.

”Not on laundry day! I was gonna go get ingredients for lasagna tonight, but obviously you want me cooped up in this apartment with nothing to wear all to yourself.” Yang shook her head in faux disappointment. “C’mon now Blakey, you’re not subtle.”

”I-“ Blake’s face was such a comical shade of red that Nora and Ren burst out in laughter. “Shut up! You can have your stupid hoodie back.”

”No, no,” Yang laughed out, putting her hands out. “Sorry, I’m just teasing. You can wear it for today, but could you at least get my laundry for me then? I’ll pay you.”

”You don’t have to pay me,” Blake scoffed, rolling her eyes, earning a gasp from Nora.

” _WHAT?_ ” she all but shrieked. Ren winced at the volume, rubbing the ear closest to Nora. “You always made me and Ren pay for own shit.”

”That’s ‘cause Yang’s already paying me by letting me keep her hoodie,” Blake replied, sinking deeper into the clothes. Yang had to admit, she looked downright adorable, even if she was drowning in it.

”Woah, woah, nobody said anything about keeping it. Not the yellow one at least. You can have one of the others, though.”

”Thanks, Yang,” Blake said with a small smile. “Oh! Do you want breakfast? Ren brought pancakes.”

”Ohh, I’ve heard so much about those pancakes. I’d love to try them.” Yang licked her lips at the thought, vaguely noting the way Blake seemed to track her motions with her eyes.

As she sat down and dug in, they chatted about anything and everything. Yang had the pleasure of meeting Nora before (she’d been Blake’s coworker for some time at the gym before having a sudden career change as a veterinarian. How those two correlated together was beyond Yang, but Nora seemed content with her new job and was happy to help when Blake asked for it), but this was her first time encountering Ren. He was about as opposite to Nora as one could get.

Where she was short and feisty, he was tall and calm. Where she was loud and excitable, he was quiet and serene. While she was passionate about helping people, he was more polite and toned down. Somehow, though, they matched each other perfectly. Nora was like a kite and Ren was her tether, grounding her.

“So, wait,” Yang said after finishing her breakfast. Blake had left and come back with her laundry fairly quickly, and she threw on a faded blue sweater. “I don’t wanna seem rude but... what exactly are you guys doing here?”

”Oh we’re-“ Ren’s response was cut off with the door slamming open and Blake’s giant father barreling in with a giant grin to march. “We’re visiting per the Belladonna’s request.”

Ghira swept Nora into a such a tight hug that Yang was worried the redhead would be squashed. But when the tiny girl returned the embrace, Yang was almost worried _Ghira_ would get squashed.

Kali followed meekly behind him, wincing at his antics. “Ghira, let the poor girl breathe. You don’t want to kill her before even giving her a proper greeting.”

”That _was_ the greeting!” He cheerfully responded before patting Ren on the back so hard, the shorter man stumbled under the force. “How’ve you been? I wish you’d visit more.”

”We’ve been great! Ren’s diner is really picking up, so we’re pretty busy. How about you guys?” Nora said.

”Oh, just the same old stuff. We’re glad Blake has new friends. And when we heard Summer’s girls would be-“ Kali bit her tongue after realizing what she’d blurted out, but Yang had already registered her words.

”You... knew my mom?” She could hardly believe what she was hearing, a wave of astonishment washing over. 

“Yes, honey,” Blake’s mother sighed out. “I wanted to tell you when we first met, but I wasn’t entirely sure if you were even okay with the topic after... you know, the way that she passed. I also knew Raven.”

Yang felt a numb coldness wash over her. “You knew her, too? I-I don’t understand.”

”We went to college together. We were only roommates for our freshman year — me, Raven, and Summer, and then Raven transferred out, and though we kept in touch, we didn’t stay as close as we’d been before. Summer and I were very close, and she even confided her sadness in me when Raven and Tai had you. She wasn’t upset that they had you, rather that you were left without a mother. And the way she so readily took over the role...”

Yang’s legs felt wobbly, and she blankly sat down, trying to process Kali’s words. She distractedly noticed that everyone’s eyes were on her, the joyful mood diminished and now replaced with concern and a gentle seriousness. She cleared her throat and whispered just loud enough to be heard, “Tell me everything.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this chapter is just gonna be a huge flashback written in a different perspective. it won’t further much of the current storyline going on, but it’s just a whole lotta backstory. but dont worry, the bees and fsteel are still gonna be in the next chapter ;) i had to make this a two-parter backstory bc rn im at a tough place in my personal life, but i do wanna get this book updated every weekend!
> 
> tw// slight descriptions of violence, minor character deaths, mention of murder, panic attacks, ptsd, mentions of alcohol use, depression, MAJORRRRRR ANGST  
> sooooo yeah, that’s a lot! hope you enjoy!! thanks for reading :)

**Kali**

**Decades ago**

“Hi!” a gorgeous brunette girl with red tips in her hair greeted, hand outstretched. “You must be Kali. My name’s Summer. Raven and I are gonna be your roommates this year. Honestly, we weren’t expecting anyone to respond to our third roommate request this close to the school year, but I guess we got lucky, huh? Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t wanna ramble on. Raven, come say hi!”

”Hi,” the dark-haired girl in the corner of the room grunted, sparing Kali only a slight glance before looking back down at her book.

Kali beamed at the shorter girl and shook her offered hand, hoping to whatever higher being there was that her palm wasn’t sweaty. “Hey, I’m Kali... but- you already knew that.” She forced herself not to facepalm. “Sorry, I’m pretty nervous.” She shifted her feet awkwardly, willing herself not to look at the floor. “I was looking for a last minute apartment since all the dorms were taken, and man, when I saw that ad, you couldn’t even imagine my relief. See, I just moved here from Menagerie and was admitted to Beacon late, and it was pretty tough adjusting and-” Her face paled as she realized she was probably talking this poor girl’s ear off. “Shit. Sorry, now who’s the one rambling?”

”That’s okay! I totally get it. Do you need help with your boxes?” Without waiting for a response, Summer reached down and grabbed a few of Kali’s boxes with ease, her smile never once faltering.

At least, not until Raven got to her feet and grumbled a quick, “I’m going exploring,” before leaving. Though Summer’s expression slipped slightly, she quickly recovered and asked if they could come with. Raven hesitated, and Kali was almost sure she’d say no, but then she shrugged and kept the door open for them as an invitation.

”I’ll unpack later, I guess,” Kali said, and Summer nodded enthusiastically, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Their apartment was only a five minute drive from the main campus, so they took a bus there and excitedly (at least in Raven’s case, _coolly_ ) looked around. Of course, they’d toured before applying, but actually getting the chance to explore while enrolled in Beacon University was its own feat.

“So, how long have you and Raven known each other?” Kali asked, hoping to spark up some sort of conversation.

”Since forever! Raven, her brother Qrow, his best friend Tai, and I, we all went to school together and applied to all the same colleges together. Raven, Qrow, and I were all childhood friends, and we met Tai during our senior year, and all four of us just clicked. It’s just been us against the world ever since.”

“So why didn’t you just ask Qrow or Tai to room with you for the apartment?” Kali tilted her head quizzically.

”If you met them, you’d understand. They’re... quite the, uh, players, I guess. And even if we’re friends, I don’t trust those guys enough to live with them, you know?”

Kali nodded, but she didn’t exactly understand it. How could she be friends with people that she didn’t trust?

Her question was soon answered, however, when a handsome blonde man approached them, a flirtatious grin easily slipping onto his face when he spotted them. Kali forced herself not to roll her eyes as he shot the three girls two awkward finger guns. “Hello, ladies.”

”Taiyang,” Raven greeted flatly. Kali’s head swiveled to her in alarm. This was him? But he was such... _a dude_. She couldn’t imagine Summer liking him or his presence.

Though when she turned to the shorter brunette, she noted in bewilderment that her face was pink and her smile was shy. “Hey, Tai.”

He ruffled her hair before turning his attention to Kali. “Who’s this? And why aren’t we going out right now?”

Before Kali could snap out a retort, an apathetic, gravelly voice cut into the conversation, his tone just as done with Tai as Kali was. “Tai, stop being an idiot,” the newcomer said, slapping the blonde over the back of the head. “Sorry about him, he’s a tool. I’m assuming you’re the new roommate? I’m Qrow.”

Kali’s shoulders sagged in relief and she smiled politely at him. At least one of these guys was a little bit more sane. “Yes, I’m the roommate, my name’s Kali.”

”No last name? That’s okay, you can take mine,” he said with an exaggerated wink.

She spoke to soon.

“Will you both stop being weird?” Summer finally interrupted, saving Kali from furthering this conversation... or saving the two men from being bitch slapped in the face.

”Okay, okay, sorry,” Tai apologized, raising his hands up in surrender. “I’m sure flirting with you was not the best first impression.”

”That was flirting?” Kali scoffed out before she could stop herself. Tai and Qrow’s eyebrows shot up, Summer covered her hand to cover up her giggle, and Raven didn’t even try to hide her snort.

”Yeah, you’ll fit in with us just fine.”

***

And Kali had. For the next few months, she’d spend any free time she had going out with the four friends. She was obviously closer to Raven and Summer, but she was beginning to warm up to Qrow and Tai’s strange antics. One of these days she’d get used to the sight of Taiyang Xiao Long trying to eat ice cream with a fork.

Raven and Kali would often exchange amused glances whenever Summer would blush at Tai’s flirtations. The poor girl couldn’t hide her interest in him from anyone, except maybe him. Dense wasn’t the right word to use when it came to him.

Kali was shocked — and impressed — when she found out Raven and Qrow were both extremely skilled kickboxers. The two had a sibling relationship that seemed to have some layer of respect in there... somewhere... but it was mostly filled with rivalry and bickering. Considering the way their personalities clashed so much, Kali was hardly surprised they got along the way that they did. When it fully came down to it, however, the two could appreciate each other’s talent for fighting; that much was clear to Kali.

Her favorite activity with the four of them, though, was going to watch Qrow’s boxing matches. Much to Raven’s chagrin, the school didn’t have a girl’s boxing team and wouldn’t allow her to join the boys’, so they all did what they could to support Qrow during his fights. That included wearing shirts with each one of the letters of his name on them. Tai wearing Q, Raven wearing R, Summer wearing O, and Kali wearing W.

So when Qrow struck a devastating blow to his opponent, Tyrian, and knocked him down for the count, winning him the state championship, the rest of them screamed at the top of their lungs in celebration. None of them noticed the murderous glint in Tyrian's eyes, or the way he snarled and stalked out of the boxing ring. They were all to elated from Qrow's win to spare the loser a second glance.

Everything began to go downhill after that. Summer would tell Kali all about how she thought she was making decent progress on her relationship with Tai, and that she was planning on telling him how she felt soon.

Raven, Kali, and Summer had all mutually agreed that the beige of their walls was bland, and they needed to spice their apartment. Kali and Summer went out to get more paints while Raven and Tai (who delightfully volunteered to help) began to use the paint that they already had.

”So what do you think? Is it too cheesy?” Summer asked as they headed back to the apartment with paint cans in hand, her silver eyes shining with so much hope that Kali couldn’t bring herself to say anything remotely negative.

”Give him those puppy eyes and he won’t even try to say no to you. Trust me,” Kali reassured, giving her a gentle smile, to which the shorter girl enthusiastically returned.

They stopped short when they heard raucous laughter erupt from behind the wall and a shocked gasp.

”Tai! You just-“ Raven’s voice spluttered. “You just spilled paint all over me! You are so fucking _dead!”_

His easy laugh filled the air. “You’ll have to catch me first, babe.”

Kali and Summer exchanged confused glances. The taller girl set one of her paint cans down so she could free it up to twist the doorknob open. She picked the bucket back up and gently nudged the door open with the toe of her foot.

Raven and Tai didn’t notice them right away, too wrapped up in throwing paint at each other and giggling like schoolgirls. But as Raven took her paint-dripping hands to smear across the blonde’s face, their actions softened. Her hand was resting delicately on his jaw, and his teasing smile had morphed to a gentler one.

Summer set her paint cans down on the ground, _hard_ , alerting everyone in the room to her presence, and causing Raven and Tai to spring away from each other. Kali swallowed dryly, sparing Summer a concerned glance only to find that her face was very carefully neutral.

”Oh, hey guys! You ready to get your paint on?” The blonde greeted in his regular stupid manner, shaking off his recent interaction with Raven and being his usual oblivious self with Summer.

”Actually, I just remembered I have to study. You two have fun,” Summer muttered, though the tremble in her bottom lip betrayed her as she quickly turned away from them and slammed her bedroom door shut behind her.

Raven was covering her face with her hands, at least having the audacity to be ashamed of herself, while Tai scratched his head in confusion.

”Hey, I think I’m gonna go check on her,” he said after a moment, to which Kali quickly cut him off with a hand to his chest.

”No need. I don’t think she wants to see you right now...” she trailed off, her gaze meeting Raven’s. “Either of you. I’ll pop in there to see if she’s okay.”

She didn’t wait for a response before following Summer and finding that the small brunette was cleaning excessively. She was a blur of actions, frantically straightening the sheets of her bed, then moving on to picking up an empty water bottle off the ground. She took a few scattered papers off of her desk to recycle, but then she accidentally dropped on, hissing suddenly. Summer forcefully yanked her finger away and stuck it into her mouth. Paper-cut.

”Just my fucking luck,” she whimpered out, and this was one of the very rare moments that Kali ever heard her curse. “Stupid,” she whispered to herself. “Stupid, stupid, _stupid_.”

The taller brunette’s feet finally managed to unfreeze from the ground and she was surging forward, grabbing Summer by the shoulders to get her to stop moving. Her silver eyes were tilted downwards, but it was no secret that she was on the verge of crying.

“Hey,” Kali managed out as tentatively as she could. “It’s gonna be okay, Summer.”

Her watery gaze finally met Kali’s, and her tears burst out like a dam. She pressed her face tightly against her shoulder and sobbed, fingers clutching her shirt tightly.

“I don’t even know why I’m crying so hard, or why I’m upset. _Of course_ he likes Raven. And _of course_ she likes him back. They’re like... the ultimate power couple. I should’ve seen this coming, really,” she blurted out, her words shaky and stammering as if her mind was barely catching up with her words.

Kali sighed. She should’ve figured Summer would be as selfless as she possibly could about this situation. “Summer, you really need to stop thinking so lowly of yourself. You are amazing, and right now, Tai’s being an idiot teenage boy. He’ll come to his senses about you. And Raven,” she paused for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly to say about their third roommate, “is complicated,” she settled. “You’ve known her your whole life and you said it yourself, she’s an enigma. I’m sure she didn’t mean for that moment to pass between them, and it was just, like, a spark for a second, you know?”

Kali had no idea what she was saying, but something told her that if she kept talking, she’d eventually manage to say something right. Her grip on Summer tightened slightly. “Even if you and Tai don’t work out, it’s not the end of the world. I had a couple partners back in my high school days that I was sure were going to be the one, but it just turned out that wasn’t the case. And it hurts, and I’m not gonna sugarcoat that. But you’ll get through it because you’re Summer Rose. The kindest and bravest soul I’ve ever met.”

”Did you get that out of a romance novel?” Summer teased after a few more moments, her hiccups ceasing. “You about to kiss me right now?”

She snorted and shoved the smaller girl away, earning a laugh. “Fine, see if I’ll ever compliment you again.” She rolled her eyes. “You and Qrow, I swear. You hang out too much. I can only hope that if he’s influencing you, you’re also influencing him.”

”I'm definitely influencing him, don't worry. I saw him give a crying kid a lollipop. Don’t tell him I told you that, though. He looked so embarrassed, it was hilarious.”

Kali chuckled before saying into a sarcastically devastated tone, “Oh no! His tough guy act!”

”Can you imagine? Must be a _nightmare_ for him,” Summer said with a matching mischievous smile.

They didn’t leave the room for another hour, just talking and enjoying each other’s company. Tai was long gone when they emerged, and Raven was nervously fiddling her fingers. Summer recovered quickly from what they’d just witnessed, and as Raven apologized fifty times over, the short girl just gave her a huge grin and forgave her. Still, the darker haired girl looked so guilty she’d probably be willing to do just about anything to make it up to her.

”Really, Summer, I have no idea what came over me, but I swear I’m not interested in him like that. And even if I was, I’d never pursue him when I know my best friend already likes him,” Raven was rambling, talking more in the past five minutes than Kali had ever heard from her in the months they'd been friends.

“Raven,” Summer interrupted, mirth laced within her voice. She set a hand over hers, and the darker haired girl looked up. “If you like him, it’s okay. I was a little upset at first, but I’d never want you to feel like you have to step aside for me. You’re a great person, and if likes you too, then you two are really lucky, and I’m happy for you. And if he doesn’t like you, then he’s an idiot. But it doesn’t matter what he decides because you and I are always going to be friends.”

That was the first time Kali ever saw Raven cry. The first of three.

***

Another month had past when Kali foolishly thought Raven and Summer’s skirmish was the worst that could happen to their group.

The most she remembered of that night was the sound of Raven’s screams. The way Tai had to hold her back from her brother’s body and console her while tears streamed down his own face. How Summer had sat stunned, her eyes almost as lifeless as Qrow’s. How Kali’s own heart felt like it’d been ripped from her chest.

The group was never the same after that. Raven vanished after the funeral, her eyes blazing with a murderous revenge. The only words she’d uttered to any of them being a dark: “He’ll pay.”

The rest of their college years passed by in a blur. Summer and Kali remained roommates, and Tai still visited from time to time, but the absence of two felt heavy on the other three.

It was five years after Kali had first met her friends. She was twenty-three and had started dating Ghira a year prior. She managed, in some way, to move on from Qrow’s murder, and was beginning a home of her own.

So when she invited Summer for dinner one night in celebration of her pregnancy, she was nearly knocked off of her feet with shock as her eyes fell upon Raven’s blood-red eyes and tired lines. Tai was standing behind her sheepishly, and Summer’s arms were crossed. That was when Raven and Tai dropped the next bomb on her; they were also expecting a child. 

As they sat for dinner, Raven never made eye contact with Kali once. “I found Tyrian,” she said, so nonchalantly that Kali thought she misheard her. “Not too long after Qrow’s...” she trailed off and audibly swallowed. “I found Tyrian a couple months after Qrow died. A-And I gave him all hell.”

Raven didn’t elaborate and Kali wasn’t sure she wanted her to. Instead, she opened her mouth and closed it, trying to think of a response, any response, to this. “Okay.”

 _”Okay?_ That’s it?” Summer breathed out. “One of your closest college friends gets murdered, his sister, who’s also a close college friend goes missing, comes back into your life with the news that she’s been knocked up by your other college friend, then vaguely tells you she got revenge for her brother’s murder, and all you have to say is _okay?"_ Her arms tightened around her chest with an anger that Kali’d never seen from Summer before. “I can’t be the only one who thinks this is fucked up!”

Tai winced at the way she worded it, and he tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder, only for her to slap it away. Raven inhaled deeply as if to calm herself, then let out a long breath. “I’m sorry, Summer. I wanted to reach out to you before, but-“

”There’s no but!” Summer yelled. “You didn’t reach out, didn’t let us help. He was your brother and I understand that, but you weren’t alone. We all needed each other. You forget Qrow was like a brother to me, too. You left on your revenge spree, and when you got it, it took you years to come back. And not only did it take you that long, but apparently you decided to fuck your dead brother’s best friend before telling your own best friend that you’d returned.”

”Summer-“ Tai attempted, but she cut him off with a glare.

”I’ve fucking had it with you all. All of you,” she spat out, turning her anger at Kali for a brief moment. “You don’t have anything to say?”

The brunette, now put on the spot, began to tear up. “This wasn’t how the night was supposed to go,” she whispered with a slight shake. “None of this was supposed to happen. This is-“ Her heart suddenly began pounding so hard she could feel it in her ears. “This is wrong,” she said. “This is wrong.”

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and a concerned pair of red eyes filled her vision, but she didn’t process it. She didn’t know what to think. Everything was fuzzy now. Her stomach clenched, and she placed a hand over it to ease the pain, to ease the feeling. For a brief moment she was afraid something happened to the baby, and bile slowly began to rise up her throat.

”This is wrong,” she kept repeating, before a sob escaped from her throat. Everything was so _wrong_.

Ghira kicked them all out promptly afterwards. The dinner that Kali had been so excited about earlier that day was left forgotten as he held her wordlessly.

***

Kali had Blake a month and a half later, and soon her days were filled with a joy she never thought she’d feel again. Ghira proposed three months after their daughter was born, and four months after that, Kali finally heard from Summer again.

”Raven had a girl. Her name’s Yang, and she’s precious. I think...” The shorter girl’s breath caught over the phone, and Kali couldn’t help but smile at her tone. “I think maybe things are going to start looking up.”

”If that’s the case,” Kali said, a little wary, before continuing, “I’d love it if you came to my wedding. All of you.”

When Blake was nine months old, Kali and Ghira were wed. Raven, Summer, and Tai all attended. Blake crawled curiously over to Yang’s stroller, before violently shaking the wheels and waking the two-month-old blonde up, who let out an earsplitting cry.

Raven’s shoulders sagged in exhaustion. “Do you know how hard it was to get her to sleep?”

”I’m sorry,” Kali couldn’t help but laugh before picking her daughter up. “I have a weird feeling Blake’s going to get on Yang’s nerves a lot in the future.”

”If Yang’s anything like me,” Tai said, “then _she’s_ gonna get on _Blake’s_ nerves.”

”Who knows?” Summer chimed in, a hesitant smile reaching her lips. “Maybe they’ll get along. Or equally get on each other’s nerves.”

”You’re all getting on my nerves,” Raven grumbled, and they all let out a collective laugh. The first one together in nearly half a decade.

And Kali thought, for just a moment, that maybe things finally were improving. After everything they’d all been through, they were together again, and that’s all that mattered.

Of course, she managed to prove herself wrong yet again.

Summer called Kali not a month later, sniffling as she explained that Raven left her own daughter motherless. Apparently, Raven hadn’t killed Tyrian all those years ago, but he recently resurfaced, and she was gone again. Vanished without a trace, only leaving a note to apologize and say she wanted to finish it.

Summer helped pick up the pieces Raven left, and she picked them up well. A year later, and the short brunette called yet again with news that she and Tai had eloped, with only Yang in attendance. Another year, and Summer was pregnant.

It was all moving so quickly, and Kali was worried that they weren’t doing this all completely out of love. She had no doubt that they did care for each other, but when she voiced her concern, Tai snapped.

”Are you sure you’re not just doing this because you’re both a little emotionally vulnerable? You’ve lost a lot, and you obviously care for each other a lot, but I just want to make sure that you’re sure,” Kali tried to explain. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be rushing things, especially because Raven left less than two years ago.”

”We’re not rushing things,” Tai was quick to defend, her face pulled into a frown. “And it has nothing to do with Raven. She made her choice, and we’ve made ours. And if you can’t agree with our choice, then that’s something you’ll need to sort out on your own.”

Kali’s eyebrows raised in surprise. He sounded nothing like his usual, friendly self. His voice was laced with hollowness and anger and grief, and his breath stank of alcohol. His eyes were tired and filled to the brim with emotions that didn’t even have names.

”Tai,” she started gently. “I can’t support you ruining yourself. I can recommend you to a therapist, if you’d like. I got one a few years back, when Raven had first returned-“

”Do not,” Tai interrupted darkly, “mention her name. You’re our friend, Kali! I thought you’d be happy for us! We’re happy!”

”I _am_ happy for you,” she argued. “But I don’t think _you’re_ happy. So much has happened to us all, and I don’t think ignoring it is healthy.”

”We’ve moved on, Kali,” he bit back sharply, standing from his chair so fast it toppled over. “It’s time for you to accept that. We don’t have to dwell on an unchangeable past-“

”That doesn’t mean the past never happened! You have to acknowledge it to move past it!”

”No, Kali. Shit, what don’t you understand?” He demanded, his jaw so tight, she was afraid it’d pop right off. “We don’t need to think about it anymore when our future is ahead of us. We can forget it all, focus on what’s important. Our kids.”

”Y-You can’t...” she spluttered out. “You can’t just _forget the past,_ Tai. You can’t seriously think forgetting about Qrow, your best friend, is a healthy way to sort this out. He _died!_ Your first love left, twice. If you don’t work out your trauma now, you’ll end up hurting your kids more. If you truly believe they’re the most important things in your life right now, then you’d focus on getting help.”

”You can’t talk about Qrow as if you actually knew him!” Tai snapped, and she flinched. “You know nothing about what I’m feeling. I’ve been at my happiest ever since Summer and I got married. And if you don’t want my happiness, I don’t want you involved in my life, or my family’s life again.”

***

Kali only talked to Summer twice after that. Once, three years after the argument with Tai, and another, just two years before her death.

The first conversation consisted of Summer informing Kali, rather jovially, that she and Tai finally began therapy. They had several issues to sort out, and just accepting their lack of authentic happiness was enough for them to know that seeking help was the right call for them.

The second conversation consisted of panicked tears, in which Summer explained that Raven returned, and Yang ran away with her. Kali stayed on the phone with her for hours, not once mentioning that her own daughter had run off as well, with a tall redhead who wore a scar over his left eye and a permanent scowl on his lips.

They comforted each other in a way that brought her back to their freshman year of college, when everything was easier and happier. When Summer’s biggest problem was that she was afraid Raven and Tai had crushes on each other.

The last time she ever got a call regarding Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long, it was a somber one just four years ago, notifying her that her last two best friends from college had passed away in an accident, Yang was hospitalized, and Ruby was alone.

Kali attended their funeral and numbly noticed the way Ruby trembled and clung onto a green-eyed redhead girl’s hand. She wailed suddenly, before running to her parents’ graves and begging them to come back, to fix everything like they always did. It was almost too much to bear.

Kali shakily rose from her chair, about to approach the poor girl in an attempt to comfort her, when a tall brunette swept past her and wrapped her arms around Ruby, who clung to her tightly.

 _So Raven finally makes an appearance_ , she thought sourly. This was the third and final time Kali had ever seen her cry.

Kali didn’t approach her, and when they made eye contact, she knew immediately that Raven had no plan to approach her, either. They were the only two left.

***

**Yang**

**Present day**

When Kali finished telling the blonde everything, Yang sat back in astonishment, the tears frozen on her face. Her lips parted in shock, her eyes glued to the older woman.

"Are you fucking with me right now?" Were the first words that unintentionally spilled out of her mouth.

"Have none of your parents told you any of this?" Kali asked, her gaze darting back to Ghira, who just shrugged.

"Raven told me about my uncle, but not... any of the other stuff. And the amount of secrets Mom and Dad held from me were even worse," Yang explained, stumbling over her words.

She finally broke eye contact with Kali, and she turned to look at Blake, who'd sat down beside her midway through the story and gently rested her hand atop of Yang's. Her amber eyes held a look of concern, silently asking if she was okay, if she needed anything.

Did she need anything? What was she supposed to do with all of this information?

Her question was answered when the front door opened and shut, and they all turned to see Ruby in the doorway with wide, confused eyes. "Um," the short girl started, "why are you here? And who exactly are you?" She directed the second question to Nora and Ren, who'd awkwardly listened to the entire story.

Kali's eyes shone, and a sad smile touched her lips. Yang guessed that she was probably thinking about how alike Ruby and Summer looked. Yang thought about it a lot, too, so she'd be unsurprised if Kali's mind reached that conclusion as well.

Nobody answered Ruby's question right away. Yang shakily got to her feet and very reluctantly let go of Blake's hand, before wrapping Kali into a hug. Her arms automatically wound around Yang's shoulders, and the blonde allowed a few tears to escape. It had been so long since she'd been held in such a tender and motherly way. Topping that feeling along with the range of emotions she felt from finding out the whole truth, it was a euphemism to say she was overwhelmed.

"Thank you," she breathed out. She released the older woman and mustered the brightest smile she could. "My parents were lucky to have someone like you in their lives, you know. If it hadn't been for you, I'm not sure what would have become of me and Ruby."

Kali let out a scoff of disbelief. "I didn't really do much."

"You called them out on their bullshit. Told my dad he needed help, and even when I was five, I could tell he needed help. And even if he was a jerk to you, I know he'd be grateful you told him to work on himself. He was the greatest father I could have asked for, and Summer was a great mom too. You were there for them when they needed you, so don't sell yourself short. Yeah?"

Kali's eyes watered, and she gave Yang another fleeting hug. "You're so much like your mother, it's a little scary."

Yang's nose screwed up. "Not sure I wanna be like Raven."

"Not her," Kali said quickly. "Summer. You have her kindness."

Yang's eyebrows raised. "I-" she wasn't entirely sure what to say. Nobody ever told her she had the same traits as Summer. "Thank you."

"Alright," Ghira cut in. "I'm sorry that we have to cut this short, but Kali and I have to go. It was great seeing you again, Nora and Ren. I wish you luck on the diner. And Yang, Ruby." He turned to the sisters and smiled. "Take care."

As they all shuffled out, Ren and Nora included, Yang's shoulders sagged and she sat back down. Ruby tentatively approached her, "What was all that?"

"That was Mom's best friend in college. Small word, huh?"

Ruby's eyebrows raised. "Care to elaborate?"

"Sure," Yang said with a shrug. "Wouldn't be fair for me to know and you not to. But first, I guess I should probably tell you what happened between me and Raven six years ago."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im allllll for the STR poly headcanon, but for this story, it didnt quite fit :(
> 
> i apologize if this feels rushed or boring!! like i said, this is a two-part backstory, but i have a lot of stuff going on in my personal life, and this was as much as i could chug out for this weekend. the next part is gonna be in three different perspectives: yang, blake, and ruby, and it may end up being a little late, so i apologize in advance if it is. there may be some typos because i haven’t gotten the chance to edit it yet. anywho, i hope you understand :) there's a lot going on and i want to prioritize this, but time is not on my side these days
> 
> anywayyy how about that episode yesterday, huh? no spoilers here, but comment what you thought!!

**Author's Note:**

> heyo, my first multi-chapter fic!! feedback is very much appreciated and i hope y’all enjoy :)


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